The Way We Weren't
by XenaFan74656
Summary: A very long time ago, Gabrielle tried to put something right and ended up getting something very wrong. Now Xena has been left in a world which isn't hers without her soulmate. She only had one chance to save her universe and find her beloved Gabrielle... This is post FIN and tries to correct the issues with FIN. It starts off in a modern day setting, but Ancient Greece will happe
1. Chapter 1

**The Way We Were**

 **Chapter One:**

 _Pawnee, Indiana, 2015_

Teenagers were definitely getting weaker. The teacher sighed. Back in the 50s, they'd all been able to throw the javelin at least a couple of metres and, back in the 1550s, it had been ever further than that. Now, some of this lot could barely even lift the thing.

'Next,' the teacher called impatiently and a boy came jogging forward to take his turn. The teacher barely paid him any attention at all. She wasn't looking for a boy.

She scanned the assembled group of teenagers. The one she was looking for had to be here. Surely, she'd waited long enough. She was in the right place, she knew that, but maybe it still wasn't the right year. There were a couple of possibilities amongst the girls – the occasional hint of muscle beneath baggy sportswear. Some of them were half decent athletes, but they lacked fire. There was no fight in them.

The boy's javelin had thudded into the ground in front of him, but no one had come forward to take him place. Annoyed, the teacher glanced at the queue of students and tried to remember the name of the girl who was next in line. She was perhaps the longest girl the teacher had ever seen and she was whippet-thin. Gangly was the only word to describe her. Gawky with long dark hair and a crooked smile. She was pretty though in an awkward sort of way. After a moment, the teacher recalled her name. 'Erin!' she shouted.

Erin came forwards and grasped the javelin uncertainly. She had the strangest throwing technique and, as techniques went, it was completely ineffective. The javelin somehow landed upside down, wobbled for a moment and then clattered forwards only to roll back towards the girl and end up centimetres in front of her feet.

'Sorry,' Erin said with an apologetic shrug of her shoulders. The teacher sighed again and resigned herself to at least another year of this. The girl she was looking for was clearly not here.

It was lunchtime and the teacher was filling her plate with macaroni cheese. One thing this century had going for it was the food. Pasta had been a revelation to her. She couldn't get enough of the stuff. Sometimes, in her head, she divided up time into Before Pasta and After Pasta. She used other before and afters too, but those were more painful to think about. Best to stick to pasta during the working day. She paused at the desert counter, surveying an array of pastries and wondering how she could slip the catering staff a recipe for nutbread.

Suddenly, she tensed. Something was wrong. She didn't know how she knew, but know it she did. Reaching out with senses which had been honed over thousands of years, she stood quite still and took stock of her surroundings. All around her was the babble and chatter of hundreds of teenagers, the clattering of knives and forks on plates, the beep of vending machines, normal everyday sounds, but, on the very edge of hearing, there was something else too. A sharp rending of the air which sounded very much like a scream.

Then someone was calling her name, not her real name, but the one she used here, and another teacher was next to her. 'There's a gun in the school,' the other teacher said. 'A man's escaped from prison and he's in the school with a gun.'

The teacher had put her tray down, muscles tensing, ready to spring into action. 'Where?' she said.

'The art room.'

And the teacher was running, wishing she had a chakram or a staff or anything more substantial than a PE whistle and a set of keys. Her movements were impossibly fast as she skirted around corners and dodged students and teachers who were all heading swiftly in the opposite direction. They yelled after her to come back, to run away with them, but she couldn't. She'd never run from anything in her life.

The door to the art room was closed, but there were a row of windows facing into the corridor in which she stood and one of those was open. She could hear the terrified muttering of the teenagers inside and, if she stood flat against the wall, between two windows, and looked sideways, she could see without being seen.

A tall man was at the front of the room, gun in his hand. He had a blond girl by the elbow and was holding her pinned against him. She looked very young and she was whimpering, tears spilling from her eyes. 'Come one!' the man was saying, jerking her roughly towards the door, obviously intending to use her as a hostage to evade the police who, by now, must be outside.

The teacher hesitated, considering her options and, as she did, she heard another voice inside the classroom. 'Don't!' it said.

'What did you say?' the gunman asked 'what did you say?'

'I said don't,' and, to the teacher's surprise, it was Erin who'd spoken. She was standing up and moving towards the man and his captive.

'Stay over there!' the gunman warned.

'Erin! Come back!' Someone shouted, but Erin kept going forwards.

'Take me instead,' she said.

'What? You're volunteering to be a hostage?'

'Yes,' Erin said, her voice steady. 'Take me instead.'

'Fine,' the gunman said 'Makes no difference to me.' Roughly, he shoved the blond girl to the ground and grabbed hold of Erin instead. As he turned her around, the teacher saw her face. There was no fear in her gentle brown eyes. Instead, there was fire. The teacher leaned forward a little, allowing herself to be seen. Her eyes met Erin's and an understanding seemed to pass between them. The teacher nodded, just once.

Then all was a flurry of motion. The teacher sprang forwards through the open window, taking a large part of the flimsy wall with her. She launched into a backflip, just as Erin twisted to the right and pulled free of the gunman, giving the teacher room to kick him squarely in the chest. He fell, gun skittering free of his hand. The teacher made two swift jabs at his neck and he lay still and silent. BY the time he woke up, the police were surrounding him and the teacher had disappeared without a trace.


	2. Chapter 2

Erin was walking fast, head down, her long hair hiding her face in the hope that no one would notice how young she was. She was skipping school and, for some reason, that made her far more nervous than the gunman had earlier. Erin was a straight A student and president of the drama society. Erin didn't skip school.

She was following her teacher. The sports teacher who'd managed to back flip through a wall earlier. Erin had been watching the teacher for weeks now, wondering if maybe this was the person she'd been looking for. Her mother had said that when the queen found her, she'd be certain that the queen was the queen. Well, Erin wasn't certain, but she was starting to be sure.

The teacher was walking quickly, weaving in and out of the crowds milling around Pawnee's main street. It was a sunny day and the sunlight was glinting off the teacher's raven black hair, making it shimmer almost blue. She was an easy person to follow because she towered over everyone around her. There was a sense of immense physical power about her of a kind which Erin had never encountered before.

The teacher had turned off the main street now and was heading down an alleyway. All of a sudden, the two of them were alone. Erin hesitated, unsure of how to make her presence known.

'Little girl,' the teacher called out, without turning 'Most people who follow me as far as you have don't live this long.'

Erin stopped, a cold fear gripping her. Perhaps she'd got it wrong, perhaps the teacher was something else entirely, something sinister.

'Why have you followed me?' The teacher asked, still not turning.

Erin swallowed and mustered up the courage to speak. 'Are you Gabrielle?' she said.

She heard a sharp intake of breath from the teacher, saw a shudder run through her. Now, the teacher turned, her blue eyes guarded. 'How do you know that name?'

'My mother taught it me.'

'And what did your mother say about her?'

'That Queen Gabrielle would come to save us. That she was the last hope of our people.'

'And you think I'm your queen?'

Erin nodded.

'I'm no queen,' the teacher was coming towards her and Erin could see a strange sadness in her eyes. 'And your mother was wrong. Gabrielle isn't coming to save you.'

'But she said…'

'Gabrielle can't come to save you. Gabrielle's dead, She's a ghost. She can't save anyone.'

'But that can't be right.'

'Believe me, it's right.' There was a terrible bitterness in the teacher's words, a great sadness.

Erin paused, unsure of what to say next. She knew the teacher was wrong, she knew Gabrielle would come. She didn't know how she knew, but know she did. 'Then who are you,' she said at last 'if you're not Gabrielle?'

'I'm the other one,' the teacher said 'I'm Xena.'

'Her friend?'

The teacher shrugged a little. 'Perhaps,' she said 'perhaps you could call it friendship.'

Erin shook her head 'but that's the wrong way around. Xena's dead, not Gabrielle. Xena died in Japan and Gabrielle couldn't save her.'

There was a small smile on the teacher's face now. 'So that's the story they tell. Gabrielle saved her alright. She shouldn't have, but she did.'

'But how?'

Xena looked at the ground. 'She was always the storyteller, not me, but then it should never have been me standing here. This was her destiny. Mine ended in Japa. Gabrielle swapped our fates.'

'I don't understand.'

Xena sat down on a bench and gestured for Erin to sit too. 'I suppose I should tell you everything,' she said. 'But first, tell me your true name. I don't think that mother of yours really named you Erin.'

And Erin answered just as her mother had taught her. 'My name,' she said 'is Cyane.'


	3. Chapter 3

Xena became aware suddenly that the shadows were starting to lengthen and darkness was descending. With it would come the curfew and the inevitable soldiers. These things weren't a problem for her, but they might be for Erin.

'Where do you live, Cyane?' she asked.

'Please don't call me that. I'm just Erin. That other name sounds wrong.'

'Very well. Erin, where do you live?'

The girl hesitated. 'Montrose Street.'

'The children's home?' It made sense. If the girl really was Cyane, she wouldn't have a mother anymore. 'I'll take you back there.'

But Erin wasn't moving. 'You can't just take me home. You know what happened to Gabrielle. You're the only one left who can save us now. You're meant to take me with you.'

'I'm meant to take Cyane with me. I'm not sure yet that you are Cyane. Your prowess with a javelin is hardly impressive.'

'My mother told me that being an Amazon isn't really about fighting. It's about being brave and protecting others. I did that today. You saw me do that.'

'That was impressive, but I don't understand why you did it. You're not a skilled fighter. There was no advantage in the gunman taking you. Bravery which is just for show isn't bravery at all. It's foolishness.'

'I made him take me instead of Marissa because I could handle it and she couldn't. She screams at spiders and can't watch scary movies. She would have fallen apart, but I knew that I could keep a hold of myself. If anyone could escape, I could. That was the advantage.'

'Fine,' Xena said. 'I'll accept that.'

'So you'll take me with you?' Erin looked up at her with gentle, pleading eyes and she was reminded of another pair of eyes, green ones, which had looked up at her and asked a very similar question a very long time ago. Just as she had then, Xena gave in. 'You'll have to walk quickly,' she grunted.

Erin trotted along beside her as Xena strode back towards the centre of the city. Everyone around them was walking with a purpose now. Darkness and threat hung in the air. Shadows seemed to solidify, to become tantalising hints of danger. Somewhere, behind closed doors, soldiers were polishing their weapons.

'It shouldn't be like this,' Xena murmured to no one in particular.

'Like what?' the girl beside her asked.

'The soldiers, the curfews, the show trials, the people disappearing in the middle of the night, kids starving on the streets. None of it should be like this.'

'But it is like this.'

'If you're really Cyane,' Xena said. 'We can change it.'

Xena looked across at Erin, noticing the length of her stride, her height. Perhaps there was a touch of the Amazons about her after all. The fire was certainly there if nothing else, but there had been others with fire and Xena had learned not to get her hopes up. The universe was full of false alarms.

'What did your mother tell you about Gabrielle?' she asked.

'She said we were the last…'

'The last?'

'The last of the Amazons. That once we'd been a race of mighty warriors, but now there was just her and me. She was Cyane then because that's the name of the Amazon leader, but, when she died, it became my name.'

Xena glanced at the girl again. Her eyes were on the ground and her footsteps were dragging a little. 'I'm sorry about your mother.'

'It was a long time ago. I was six. She was in the police and she went to work one day and didn't come back. They shot her.'

'Who did?'

Erin shook her head. 'They told me it was a murderer who'd escaped, but I don't know if that's true. A lot of people go missing around here if they're too clever of they ask too many questions.'

'Or they're the last of the Amazons.' Xena finished for her.

'My mother said people would see us as the enemy if they found out who we were, but I don't know why.'

'It's because they know as well as I do that the world's not meant to be this way. Gabrielle was meant to be here to stop all this.'

'My mother said that Gabrielle was our greatest queen, that she'd become immortal and she still lived in the world, that one day she'd come and find us. That's why we couldn't ever leave Pawnee, because Gabrielle knew we were here. And, when she did find us, she'd save us, and the Amazons would be a great nation again.'

They were interrupted by a clattering of boots behind them. Two soldiers were there, their black uniforms making them somehow negative spaces, rendering them something other than human. The visors on their helmets cast their eyes into shadow, leaving them hollow-eyed and emotionless. The last rays of twilight were glinting off the rifles slung over their shoulders. Xena began to walk faster.

'Why would anyone be a soldier?' Erin asked.

'I'm not sure they had much choice.'

'If someone made me a soldier, I wouldn't be like them. I'd stay human.'

'You do know they drug them?'

'Drug them?'

'They put drugs in their food to get rid of any impulse towards kindness they may have left. They make sure there's nothing human in them.'

The two were walking even faster now. Xena knew she could take on the two soldiers if necessary, but she didn't want to draw attention to them. There would be time enough for that soon.

Klaxons were starting to blare now, huge light panels flashing red at the tops of the buildings, warning that curfew was nearly upon them. The few stragglers left on the streets had broken into a shuffling run, and more and more pairs of soldiers were pouring out onto the street. The hour after dark was known as the Lawless Hour, the time when the soldiers were allowed to do what they wanted with no questions asked. Later, once the proper night had begun, things weren't so simple. There are always some who have business after dark and, with the proper permits, prostitutes and the like were able to carry on as usual. The true danger came at the edge of night, in the half-light, the time between order and chaos.

Xena guided Erin quickly down a side street and into an unassuming looking building. Once inside, she locked the door and closed the curtains on the violent world outside.

There was an awkward pause as the two of them looked at each other. Xena's eyes searched Erin's face. She told herself she was looking once more for some hint of the Amazons, but she knew she was really looking for traces of Gabrielle. At the beginning, those she'd picked out had always been Gabrielle in miniature, small and blond and talkative. Gawky and dark-haired was a new development.

'Will you tell me what happened to Gabrielle?' Erin said at last.

Xena hesitated. Thoughts of Gabrielle had both driven her half-mad and kept her sane over the course of the millennia. Back in the old days, she'd tried to tell herself that the ache inside of her would lessen with time, that she'd stop hearing that voice in her dreams, seeing that face in her mind, but all those things she'd told herself had been lies. She still spent every night curled into a ball, hurting with the physical pain of needing someone who could not come. When she slept, she always clutched a faded, disintegrating 2000 year old sleep shirt in her arms, trying to convince herself that Gabrielle's scent still lingered there. She had a drawer full of quills and yellowing scrolls which she hadn't dared look at in a hundred years because the sight of that handwriting always undid her. Yet, at the same time, her memories of Gabrielle had become a shield, a cloak of warmth and joy and comfort which she could wrap herself up in whenever the world became too much.

'Please tell me what happened,' Erin asked again.

With a sigh, Xena sat down and gestured for Erin to sit down beside her. 'Perhaps it's best if you hear it in her words,' Xena said, and she prepared to recite the last scroll. The one she'd read so many times, she'd known it off by heart for a thousand years or more.


	4. Chapter 4

Xena took a deep breath and started from the beginning:

 ** _Hear me, O Muse, and grant me inspiration, for I sing a new song. I sing of the journey of Gabrielle, the wrath of the gods and the sisterhood of the Amazon Nation. I sing of the love of Xena and Gabrielle, a love which is more powerful than anything else in the universe._**

 _The anger came first. She'd left me and I hated her for it. She'd chosen to save strangers over staying with me. Even her ghost walking beside me offered no comfort. I froze her out, wouldn't look at her and then, as we walked away from Japa, the anger went away and I needed her. I needed her to hold me and tell me everything would be alright._

 _But ghosts can't touch._

 _In Japa, somehow we'd still been able to touch because of the strength of our bond and her closeness to Mount Fuji, but, on a ship bound for Africa, she wasn't strong enough anymore. I reached out for her and my hands went straight through her as though she was made of mist. That was the first time I cried._

 _It was worse at night. For years, we'd slept curled around each other, me snuggled into her chest, listening to her heartbeat, her arms around me. The first time we slept like that was after Callisto came back, when I lost Perdicus, the boy that I realise now I had never truly loved. She'd walked around the fire towards my bedroll and she'd lain down beside me without a word. I'd crawled into her arms and let her hold me and suddenly the world seemed a better place. After that, I'd find excuses to go to her. Perhaps the night was too cold or I missed my family or I was scared of noises in the dark. Anything at all would do and she was always there, waiting. After we came back fom Illusia, I stopped finding reasons and making excuses. I just used to crawl in under her furs every night and she just used to let me._

 _But not anymore. Now, I curled up alone, shivering in the sea breeze and she would sit and watch me and wouldn't be able to do anything else._

 _Worse was to come. The morning we finally reached the shore, I found she could no longer talk. She didn't seem solid anymore, her image was shimmering and fading. She'd become a reflection, a mirage, and her voice had gone. I missed her voice, missed the sound of it as she said my name, missed all the varied tones of it, raised high in anger or dropped low in love._

 _I realised that she was becoming weaker the further we travelled from Japa and so, I turned back, got on the first ship going north and watched the shimmering air beside me, praying for it to solidify again, become her, become whole. Only it didn't. it seemed that, once gone, she could never come back._

 _Her image was growing weaker by the hour. I dithered, filled with indecision. Where should I go? What should I do? For so long, my life had been defined by her, by her needs, her desires. I had forgotten how to act by myself. I wanted to save her, to keep her strong, but I didn't know how because, for so long now, she had been my strength._

 _And then she was gone, just the image of a sad smile hovering in the air beside me._

 _That was the second time I cried._

 _We had planned to go to Africa, to build a new for ourselves there, but that was our dream, hers and mine. I couldn't make it mine alone. There was nothing there for me now, a lone warrior, a borrowed chakram in my hand. This was never the destiny I had wanted. I had not set out to fight._

 _And so, I limped my way back to Greece, broken and afraid. She's taught me all she knew, the woods and the wild places should have held no fear for me, but fear was all I knew. Without her arms around me, every noise, every movement became a threat. And even, when all was still, I didn't feel like me. To be me, I needed her._

 _Without thinking, I had started back towards Potideia, to the only place I had ever lived without her, but as the forest became familiar, as I reached the vistas of my childhood, I realised that sometimes, as much as we want to, we can't ever go home. I had changed too much. Potideia didn't belong to me anymore. And so I turned west, towards the ones who would always make me welcome, towards Amazon Country._

 _And make me welcome they did. I was their Queen and they were a scattered and fractured nation. They needed me as much as I needed them. The world turned and the seasons rolled on and I guided the Amazons back to strength. But still happiness eluded me and still, at night, the tears came and I missed her arms around me. My soul had been torn in half and nothing could make it whole again._

 _That was when my thought turned to Eli and to India and to all the time we'd spent there. We'd each found our true way; hers was the Way of the Warrior, to do good in the world through fighting for those couldn't fight for themselves. My way was to help her, to keep her safe, to love her and I had failed in all of my duties._

 _Aphrodite came to me that night. Ever since Xena had gone, Aphrodite had appeared periodically to check up on me. I think she found me as comforting as I found her – after all, we were both vestiges of an older time. She was the last of the Olympians and I was living inside my memories of a time decades before. As we played a game of chance to while away the hours in the darkest part of the night, I began to think of other immortals and other games and of an old legend I'd heard as a child and I began to wonder if, perhaps, there might be away I could get Xena to come back to me._


	5. Chapter 5

Xena paused in the story. The words became harder to recite the further through the story she got.

'Go on,' Abbie said. 'What happened then?'

Taking a deep breath, Xena began to speak again.

 _For the first time, I looked around at my home with the Amazons and I saw it, really saw it. I had few friends – Ephiny and Eponin and the others I'd known were all long since dead. These new Amazons revered me, respected me, but it went no further than that. My life was empty. Without Xena, there was no purpose to it. And that was when I realised that my purpose was Xena. It always had been. The world needed the warrior princess and my duty was to find some way to bring her back._

 _I left the Amazons and went in search of Eve, Xena's daughter, the Messenger of Peace. Once upon a time, Eve had been my daughter too, but the adult Eve had turned from me. She didn't understand my relationship with Xena, didn't understand the love we had for each other or the love I had once had for her and, in all honesty, I found her perhaps a little selfish. Like Xena, she had the skills and the ability to fight for good, but she chose not to, chose to live her life in isolation instead, spreading her message only to those who came to seek her out. I had been like her once. I gave up my staff in India, but I came to see the error of my ways._

 _It was in India that I found her. She had taken up residence in one of the temples there and she was surrounded by a small band of followers. It was the first time I had seen her since I brought her the news of Xena's death. She looked older and I realised, with surprise that she was older, older than Xena had ever had the chance to grow. Her greeting, when she saw me was a little forced, a little stilted. I knew I was not truly welcome there. I wasn't her parent, just some wanderer who had followed her mother around._

 _I had come to her now because the god of Eli had brought Xena and I back once before. Eli was gone now and Eve was the closest link I had to his god. I asked her to petition her god, to pray for her mother's return, but her eyes darkened with fear at my suggestion. She believed that Xena had fulfilled her destiny, that she was fated to die in Japa. To try and change that was to go against the wishes of her god and the dictates of the Fates._

 _Disheartened, I left her, but her words about the Fates had stuck fast in my mind. I journeyed to their cave, following a hidden path which Xena had shown me years before, and there they were; Atropos, Lachesis and Clotho, all seated at their loom. They shied away from me as I entered, remembering how, years ago, I had destroyed their loom and re-ordered the whole of creation to save Xena._

 _'_ _Let me see her thread,' I said, without preamble and they didn't need to ask who I meant._

 _'_ _Her thread,' said Atropos_

 _'_ _is not,' said Lachesis_

 _'_ _as it should be,' said Clotho_

 _They held it up between them and half of its length shimmered, golden and glimmering. The other half was black and sullen. They pointed to the place where the gold became black._

 _'_ _She should,' said Atropos_

 _'_ _have died at,' said Lachesis_

 _'_ _The end of the thread,' said Clotho_

 _'_ _Instead,' said Atropos_

 _'_ _she died here,' said Lachesis_

 _'_ _Too early,' said Clotho_

 _'_ _Can you fix it?' I asked 'Can you change her fate?'_

 _At this, the three of them shake their heads. They are the keepers of fate, not its makers. They have shown me all I needed to see, all I needed to convince me that Eve was wrong, that Xena had not fulfilled her destiny._

 _I left their cave and turned my horse towards Athens. Before night fall, I had found one of her temples. Once inside, I called the one immortal who had always helped me. Aphrodite._


	6. Chapter 6

_Aphrodite's temples were becoming fewer and fewer. When Xena and I had first set out on our travels, there was one in every village. The Goddess of Love was kept supplied with all the gifts she could ever want; sweet foods and rich wine and perfumes and jewellery from all four corners of the earth. Her temples were full of glitter and glamour and golden clutter. And she would flit from one to the next, delighting in her presents, like a toddler playing with a new toy._

 _Now, her temples were very different affairs. The immortals, the old gods who I had grown up with, were largely gone, slain by Xena's hand. Only Aphrodite and her brother, Ares, remained. Love and War, those two polar opposites without which the world would not function. Their worshippers were dwindling in number as more and more people converted to the new religion, began to worship the god to whom Eve had devoted herself. Ares had left the Earth behind and retreated to his Halls of War, content to watch humanity from a distance and dream of happier times. Aphrodite though was clinging to the hope that the people might turn back to her._

 _Her temples now seemed dull and dingy. Filled with offerings which were weeks old and half rotten. And there were always empty. Only the occasional priest came this way now. Aphrodite herself was to be found huddled in corners or seated forlornly on her altar, waiting and wishing and hoping._

 _The temple I had found was one of the smaller ones. I entered it with some hesitation. These places were always too full of memories for me. Xena and I had visited Aphrodite's temples often. A small smile forced its way onto my face as I remembered the time we had spent a week in a lakeside temple after Aphrodite put a spell on us. Then there had been the incident with Genia on my birthday. Suddenly, those times felt impossibly far away. It had been another life, lived by a different person. That Gabrielle had been young and carefree and in love, not old and broken._

 _'_ _I like to remember her too.'_

 _I turned in surprise and found Aphrodite standing behind me, looking as young and beautiful as she always had. I took a step towards her and found somehow that I was in her arms, tears streaming down my face._

 _'_ _Hush now, Sweetcheecks.' She was stroking my back and I pressed my face into her shoulder, drawing comfort from having someone close._

 _'_ _I'm sorry,' I said 'Usually I hold it together better than this.'_

 _'_ _It's ok, honey. Cry if you need to, that's what friends are for. And I've cried for her.'_

 _'_ _But the gods aren't meant to shed tears for mortals.'_

 _Aphrodite looked embarrassed for a moment. 'She was one of mine though.'_

 _'_ _She belonged to Ares. Her path was the way of the warrior'_

 _'_ _No, Sweetheart. She was mine. As soon as she met you, she was mine.'_

 _I drew back from Aphrodite's embrace. 'She and I, we were never…'_

 _Aphrodite laughed 'Lovers? Oh I know you never did the deed, but you were in love. You were soulmates, bound together for all eternity.'_

 _At this, I began to cry again, great, shuddering sobs which racked my whole body. For a while she held me and rocked me in silence._

 _'_ _Why did she leave?' I asked at last. 'I know we were meant to have had more time together.'_

 _'_ _This should not have been your fate or hers. The two of you were to have been bound together for all the lifetimes to come.'_

 _'_ _The Fates showed me her thread and it had been changed.'_

 _'_ _I'm sorry, child.'_

 _I looked up at her then, my eyes meeting hers. My heart was hammering harder in my chest. I was terrified of what she might say. The idea I had was controversial, forbidden, dangerous._

 _'_ _Do you truly consider me a friend?' I asked._

 _'_ _Of course I do. You're my best gal. Sometimes I think you're the only one who ever really cared for me.'_

 _'_ _And you cared about Xena?'_

 _'_ _I would have done anything for the warrior babe.'_

 _I took a deep breath. 'I think I might know a way to get her back,' I said. 'But I'm going to need you to help me.'_


	7. Chapter 7

Erin was looking at Xena in confusion now. 'How could there be a way to bring someone back?' She said. 'Unless you weren't really dead?'

'I was dead alright,' Xena said. 'Dead by my own hand to all intents and purposes. I could have defeated the soldiers who killed me, but I chose not to. I could have let Gabrielle save me back in Japa, but I chose not to. I was working for the greater good, you see, like I always did. Only I didn't realise until it was too late that she was my greater good. She always had been. And seeing her lost and hurt like she was when she wandered alone afterwards was worse than I could bear.'

'You could still see her even when she couldn't see you?'

'Yes,' Xena's voice was barely more than a whisper. 'I could always see her, but I couldn't offer her words of comfort or hold her close when she cried. All I could do was stand there and watch.'

'I'm sorry…'

'What's done is done.' Xena said briskly. 'To go back to the story, Gabrielle thought she was working for the greater good too.

'By bringing you back?'

'That's right. Only she was wring. Bringing me back was the worst thing she could possibly have done.'

'What do you mean?'

'You'll see…' Xena took a deep breath and continued reciting Gabrielle's last scroll.

 _When I was a little girl, I used to sit in the marketplace in Potidaea and watch the old men playing games of chance. They would throw dice into the centre of a rough, chalk circle and wait with baited breath for the numbers to appear. I loved the thrill of it. Lila and I would cheer for our Grandfather and be lifted high in the air when he won. Later, I realised that games of chance are foolish things. The only games worth playing are those which require a skill. Those which you can learn how to win._

 _They told stories in the marketplace too and that was how I learned that even the immortals loved to play games, that even the gods could be tempted into contests of skill or chance._

 _At first Aphrodite was sceptical, then fearful. She knew the dangers of my plan, the consequences of cheating an immortal, but I didn't plan to cheat. I would win, fair and square. No one could argue with that. Besides, she loved me, loved Xena, would have done anything to see us together again._

 _When she took me to her brother's halls, she held my hand and silent tears ran down her face. Her customary pink dress was gone and she was instead clad all in black, the black she had worn on the day her husband had been slain._

 _'_ _You don't need to do this, Gabby,' she whispered._

 _'_ _Yes I do,' I said in reply, my voice somehow steady._

 _She didn't protest again, just called her brother and stepped backwords, away from me, leaving me to face him alone. And there he was, Hades, in all his terrible glory._

 _'_ _You have something of mine,' I said._

 _'_ _The warrior princess was never yours. One person cannot own another.'_

 _'_ _She was mine and I was hers and I need her back. But more than that, the world needs her back. For the greater good.'_

 _'_ _You talk of things you do not understand, child.'_

 _'_ _No. You're wrong. It's you who doesn't understand. The gods have never understood love. The gods have never cared about the fate of the human world.'_

 _'_ _And you have become the spokesperson of the human race?'_

 _I drew myself up to my full height (which wasn't much) and answered him 'I have become what it was necessary for me to become. The human race seems to be out of other options at this point.'_

 _'_ _And you wish to challenge me?'_

 _'_ _Yes.'_

 _'_ _And if I refuse?'_

 _'_ _You can't.' This was from Aphrodite who had followed me inside. 'It is her right.'_

 _A look of annoyance flitted across Hades' face. 'I am very good at games of chance,' he said._

 _'_ _I'm not challenging you to a game of chance.'_

 _'_ _You wish to fight me then? Very well, little girl, pick your weapon.'_

 _I shook my head. 'I'm no warrior.'_

 _'_ _Some would disagree. In recent years, you've become…bloodthirsty.'_

 _'_ _Well tonight I'm returning to my roots. We're going to tell stories.'_

 _There was a gasp from behind me as Aphrodite broke into a smile. 'You go, gabby,' she whispered._

 _Hades was looking sceptical. 'How will we judge which story is best?'_

 _'_ _We'll ask the people,' I said._

 _And that was how Hades, Aphrodite and I ended up at the Dionysia, the greatest festival of storytelling and drama in all Greece. Hades, beside me, had taken the form of as old man, while Aphrodite was a young boy in the clothes of servant. We had entered the afternoon competition and Hades was first, taking his place before the restless crowd. He stared them down with their eyes like burning coals until they fell silent._

 _'_ _I have terror,' he began. 'I have seen horrors in the depths of the earth…' as he recited the tale of the Minotaur. I found myself becoming caught up in the story. He was far better than I had expected him to be and the crowd were hanging on every word, drawn in by tale of terror. I had been going to tell a tale of terror of my own, the story of Dahak, the demon god, but I realised that, to follow terror with terror would not be wise._

 _'_ _What should I do?' I whispered to Aphrodite._

 _'_ _Remember that I'm your patron,' she replied. 'Fear has never been your domain. You always followed my path.'_

 _I knew then what I had to do. I told the tale of Xena, as I always did, but I told the tale of my Xena, the Xena who laughed at the smallest things, who played tricks on me, who held me when I cried. And I told my story too. I told of my love and of my pain now that she was gone. Then, without meaning to, I made my plea. I told the crowd of my wager with hades, of my attempts to get her back. And, just like that, the crowd were mine. They voted for my story overwhelmingly._

 _With a blink of her blue eyes, Aphrodite transported us back to Olympus and she and Hades returned to their true forms. Aphrodite was grinning and triumphant. 'She won! Gabby won! You have to bring Xena back!'_

 _Hades was grinning too, but it wasn't a pleasant expression. 'You should have done your research, sister. I do have to bring Xena back, but there's a price.'_

 _'_ _A price?' Aphrodite was just was surprised as I was._

 _'_ _It's a life for a life, sister. There must be balance in all things. If I bring Xena back, I have to take another in her place.'_

And here Xena paused, tears threatening to overwhelm her.

'Gabrielle took your place,' Erin finished for her.

'That's right,' Xena said after a moment. 'She thought she was doing the right thing and there was no way she could have foreseen the consequences of her actions.'


	8. Chapter 8

Xena paused and looked at Erin. 'And that's the end of the scroll.' She said.

'What happened next?'

'Well, yours truly returned to the world, but that's not the important part. The important part is what didn't happen.'

'What do you mean?'

Xena took a deep breath. 'You see, it was Gabrielle who had the great destiny, not me. During all the years she lived with the Amazons, she united all the disparate, warring tribes. She brought them together and built a nation of strong, powerful women. But Gabrielle couldn't have predicted what would happen to her so she named no successor.' And here Xena smiled. 'No new Cyane.'

'So what happened?' Erin asked.

'The nation fractured, went back to being separate tribes. And then the Romans came. They decimated these new Amazons. Half of them they carried off as slaves. The other half they slaughtered or scared into hiding. There were outposts of Amazons left. Isolated groups, living high in the hills and deep in the forests, but they were too small to be of much use. The bonds of sisterhood dissolved and the Amazons began to change their way of life, marry into the villages which surrounded what had been Amazon Country. Slowly, they began to pass form the world and into myth.'

'Why didn't you try to save them' Erin asked.

Xena looked down at the ground. 'Truth is, I've never had much time for Amazons. I always underestimated them I think and I found all their rituals and ceremonies irritating. I didn't understand how important those things were in binding the Amazons together as one united people. Gabrielle understood that straight away, but I never did. I wasn't too concerned with the end of the Amazons. All things change after all. A lot of things were different to how they had been when I was young; there were no centaurs, most of the gods had been destroyed. The end of the Amazons made sense in a way. They were form a different time. And I couldn't have predicted how the end of the Amazons would affect the rest of the world.'

'Effect the rest of the world?'

'Yes – I started d to notice something was wrong a couple of centuries after the last of the Amazons had disappeared. The world seemed cruel to me somehow, crueller than it ever had before and something in the seemed different. I can't really explain it. I had been trapped in the wrong timeline in the past and you get used to the feeling of it. Anyway, I made the journey to the caves of the Fates to find out what had happened. I found them distressed and their look in disarray. They showed me the future as it should have been, full of strong, powerful women who would have steered the world in a new direction; Joan of Arc, Elizabeth I, Lesley Knope. Do those names mean anything to you?'

Erin shook her head.

'Me neither, but they should. They would all have been decedents of the Amazons, raised in the tradition of strong, powerful women. With that background, they would have had the courage to stand up for their beliefs and convictions. Instead, these women were all born, all lived, but lived in obscurity and the world moved in an entirely different direction. We have a world with curfews and soldiers and danger at every turn. It shouldn't be happening. It was then that I made it my life's mission to put the world back on its right path, to find the heir to the Amazon nation.'

'But you said the Amazons were all gone?'

'Not quite. One group persisted. They lived in Greece, on an island called Lesbos, at the court of the poet, Sappho, and her descendants they alone kept the Amazon traditions alive. They lived in a female only group and they raised their daughters as proud warrior women. Their ancestor had been perhaps the greatest Amazon of them all. The name, Cyane, was given to the oldest girl in each generation and they became the new heirs to the Amazon nation. Over time their numbers dwindled and they left Lesbos until just you and your mother were left and now, just you…'

'I'm the last of the Amazons,' Erin's voice was flat as she tried to take everything in.'

'Yes, my Queen.'

After a moment, Erin said, 'But I still don't understand how you're here. You're thousands of years old.'

Xena smiled a tight little smile which had no joy in it. 'Turns out you can't die twice. Once Gabrielle restored me to the world, I was stuck here for eternity without her.'

'You and she…' Erin hesitated 'Were you...'

'I don't know what we were,' Xena said 'But I know that I loved her beyond all else. She was my soulmate, the other half of me.'

'And what's my part in all this? I'm not a queen.'

'I think,' Xena said 'That it's time you and I paid a visit to my friend, Aphrodite. She might be able to explain it better than me.'


	9. Chapter 9

It was the darkest hour of the night now, the one men used to call the witching hour. The soldiers had retreated back into the shadows and the streets were becoming filled with a new kind of citizen; those people whose business was always conducted under cover of darkness. They hurried to and fro, dark cloaks drawn up over hair and faces. Erin moved closer to Xena. She'd never been out this late before. Generally, you stayed inside if you wanted to see the morning.

'Don't do that,' Xena whispered.

'Do what?'

'Stand close to me. You need to look like you belong out here. It doesn't do to look scraed.'

'But I am scared.'

'You're an Amazon. You're descended from a long line of fierce warrior women. Walk with pride.'

Erin took a deep breath and tried to stand up a bit straighter. She stepped away from Xena a little and immediately had the urge to look over her shoulder and check there was nothing sinister behind her.

'I won't let anything hurt you,' Xena's voice was low, barely audible, but it made Erin feel a little better,

They moved through the dark city streets in silence so as not to draw attention to themselves. They were wrapped in cloaks like those worn by the night-dwellers and Xena kept them walking at a measured, unhurried pace. With each step they took, Erin felt further form everything she'd known, had to fight harder to stop herself from running.

IN front of them, a large group of men was emerging from an alleyway. Unlike most of the other people around them, this group was bare-headed and their cloaks were open, moonlight glinting off the knives in their belts. They spread out across the road, blocking it comoletely. All Erin's senses were telling her to turn and run, but then Xena's hand was on her shoulder, heavy and reassuring.

'Steady,' Xena whispered and Erin managed to stop her feet from running.

'Can we help you boys?' Xena asked.

The men were grinning now, not at Xena, but at Erin.

'Where'd you find the girl?' One of them drawled, his voice a breathy rasp.

'She's my daughter.'

He laughed and the sound was harsh and unnatural. 'She's no one's daughter. I've seen her before. She lives in the children's home. No one to miss her if she didn't come back.'

Xena's posture had subtly changed. She seemed poised, ready to spring into action.

'Pretty thing like her,' the man was saying. 'Should fetch a good price.'

And then Xena was running, but towards the men, not away, and it was like nothing Erin had ever seen. She ran faster than should have been humanly possible and she ran with an impossible grace and power and beauty. Xena launched herself at the man who had spoken, hitting him, once, twice, three times, and then he was falling backwards, head cracking horribly onto the tarmac pavement. His henchmen, se dispatched with kicks and a well-placed elbow to the stomach. Once they were all on the ground, winded and groaning, she turned back to Erin.

'Come on,' she said, grabbing Erin's hand. 'I've drawn rather more attention to us than I planned to.'

'That was incredible,' Erin stammered.

Xena grinned. 'Have to admit, I've kind of missed doing that.'

They were moving faster now, and furtively, Erin following close behind Xena as they went from doorway to doorway, shadow to shadow. The streets around them were growing narrower, emptier. Until, all of a sudden,' they came upon a crowd of people, all sitting silently around a doorway leading to what looked to be an abandoned warehouse.

They were the saddest group of people Erin had ever seen and they were completely quiet, each one locked in his or her own private misery. Their clothes were in tatters, their cheeks hollow, their eyes all too large in their pale faces.

'Who are they?' Erin asked.

'The broken ones. They're drawn to her because, even now, she holds the promise of love, of a better life, but she hasn't been capable of helping anyone for a very long time.'

'Who?'

'An old friend of mine,' Xena said and there was an impossible sadness in her voice. 'Let's go inside.'

Erin followed Xena inside. The figures crouched in the darkness reached out their hands to them, pleading, begging.

'Can't we do anything to help them?' Erin asked.

Xena shook her head.

'But you're the great warrior princess.'

'I can't save everyone, little queen. But, if we succeed, no one will ever have to live like then again. The world will be made new.'

Erin didn't question her further and they passed through a doorway without a door. Inside, all was dank and dark and dirty.

'You should have seen what her temples used to look like…' Xena muttered, stepping over what appeared to be part of the roof which had caved in. 'They were bright and cheerful, places of joy. People leaft her gifts…'

'left who gifts?'

There was a sound then from in front of them; a shuffling and a stumbling in the darkness.

'there's someone in here,' Erin gasped in fright. A lifetime of surviving in a harsh world was telling her to run as far and as fast as she could.

'No one to worry about,' Xena said and then she turned away from Erin and called very softly, 'Aphrodite.'

There was a scrabbling sound and then the flickering light of a match being struck. It half illuminated a woman's face. Her skin was papery and cracked, her cheeks hollow. Blond hair hung in lank strands around her shoulders.

'Who's there?' she called in a voice which seemed to be breaking from lack of use.

'it's me,' Xena said, stepping forwards into the circle of match light.

'Gabrielle?' For a moment, there was something like hope in the woman's eyes.

'Not this time,' Xena said.

Aphrodite came closer with shuffling steps. 'I see you now,' she said. 'You're the one she died for. All of this is your fault.'

'I know. I'm sorry. But I came to make it right.'

'How can you? No one can make it right except…' She paused then and her eyes found Erin. All at once, there was a different expression entirely on her face.

'Cyane,' she whispered.


	10. Chapter 10

Xena was looking back and forth between the kneeling Aphrodite and the stunned looking Erin. 'So it's really her?' She asked.

Aphrodite reached out and took Erin's hand, breathing in deeply, eyes closed. 'it's her alright. The blood of the Amazons beats strongly in her veins.'

A smile was spreading across Xena's face. 'but is she really the last? There really aren't any more Amazons on Eath?'

Another pause from Aphrodite and then 'She's the last. The only one.'

Erin jerked her hand away, something about the hungry expression in Aphrodite's eyes making her uneasy.

'it's alright, Cyane.' Aphrodite said gently, advancing towards her again, eyes wide and arms outstretched. With a small, scared sound, Erin ducked behind Xena, suddenly certain that she didn't want Aphrodite's grasping fingers anywhere near her.

'Stop it,' Xena said sharply to Aphrodite. 'You're scaring her.'

Aphrodite stepped backwards then. 'Sorry, Xena, sorry.' She muttered, looking down at the ground like she was a child who'd been told off. 'I'm just a bit emotional, you know. She's come to make it right, but I'm scared of what I have to do…'

'I know you are and it's ok to be scared.'

'but it's the right thing, isn't it?' And again there was the childlike tone.

'Yes,' Xena's voice was firm. 'It's the right thing. This isn't you. You shouldn't be living like this.'

'The people don't need me anymore. There's no love anymore and I'm losing myself.'

'I know and we're going to get you back.'

Erin stepped out form behind Xena then. 'Will someone please tell me what's going on? I know that Xena wants to change the world and get Gabrielle back, but I don't understand what this has to do with me or,' and here she gestured at Aphrodite 'her. I'm not even sure who she is.'

'She's the goddess of love,' Xena said. 'Or she was, when there was any power in her. The problem is that the people here have forgotten how to love so Aphrodite's lost her essence. The world is out of balance. Love needs to be strong for the human race to survive. Love's the strength in all of us.'

'But you're still strong…'

'Not like she was,' Aphrodite said. 'When she was mine, when she had Gabby, she was invincible. Heroes like her need love most of all.' Aphrodite gave a bitter little sigh then and looked across at the two of them. 'We're a pathetic lot, aren't we? There aren't any heroes anymore except Xena and there aren't any Amazons except you and there aren't any gods except me. So, here we are, the last Amazon, the last hero and the last of the gods.'

'But I remember stories of lots of gods in the ancient times,' said Erin.

'There were lots of us once, but the others all went back to Mount Olympus when you lot stopped believing in us. Not me though. I had to go all sentimental and stay.'

'The others didn't care about the fate of humanity.' This was from Xena. 'But you did. You always did. You couldn't let Earth destroy itself.'

'Well I'm a sucker for a happy ending.' Aphrodite reached out again, taking first Xena's hand and then Erin's. 'So what can the three of us do?' She said 'Against the world?'

'Keep fighting till we can't.' Xena said. 'Keep doing what's right.'

Erin had pulled her hand away again. 'I still don't understand what all of this has got to do with me.'

'We need to change history,' Xena said 'So this world never exists. And we need you to open the time portal.'

'I don't know how to open a time portal.'

'You don't have to,' said Aphrodite. 'We just need the blood of the last of the Amazons. The Fates decreed that time could only be altered once the world was about to destroy itself and, without the Amazons, it will. You're everyone's last hope.'

But Erin has jumped away from Aphrodite and Xena and was backing towards the doorway. 'Blood?! Am I here to be some kind of sacrifice?!'

'No!' Xena and Aphrodite said together.

'But how…?'

'We just need a drop,' Aphrodite said. 'just a cut. Nothing scary. Once the time portal is open, you and Xena will go through and save Gabby. Then the world will be right again.'

'Xena and I go through? What about you?'

Aphrodite looked down at the ground. 'I won't be coming with you.'

'Why not?'

'Aphrodite's over-simplifying what we need to do.' Xena said. 'Your blood will open the portal, but only when it's combined with the power of love. We'll need what's left of Aphrodite's essence too.'

'You mean…?'

'That's right,' Aphrodite said. 'Wham, poof, kapow and no more love goddess. And that's where it gets complicated. You and the warrior babe exist within time so when you travel back to the past, there'll be another Xena there; the Xena from that time period. But I exist outside of time, so when I cease to exist here, I won't exist back then either.'

'And if Aphrodite doesn't exist, we'll be going back to a world without love.'

'But you said that without love…'

'You two have to bring me back by finding true love yourselves before my essence disappears completely. Xena has to win the heart of Gabrielle. They're soulmates. When they comes together, I come back, and everything's right again.'

'And there will be two Xenas.'

'Fun, isn't it?' Said Aphrodite with a slightly bitter smile.

'And I mustn't meet myself,' Xena said. 'otherwise it will cause a temporal explosion which could destroy the universe.'

'So…' Erin said 'Xena and I have to go back in time, save Gabrielle and get her to fall in love with Xena in a world without love and without the other Xena finding out?'

'Should be easy enough,' said Xena and Erin couldn't work out if she was joking or not.


	11. Chapter 11

Erin closed her eyes, held her breath and tried not to flinch. She was pretty sure that one of the Amazons o fold would not be visibly trembling at the thought of a little cut, but she couldn't seem to stop her outstretched arm from shaking.

'It'll be easier if you don't close your eyes,' Xena said. 'Then you'll know when it's coming.'

Erin wasn't completely sure she agreed with that, but she thought it best not to argue and opened her eyes. The warrior princess was standing in front of her, a knife positioned above the bare skin of her open hand.

'Ready?' Xena asked.

'No.' Erin shook her head and pulled her hand away. Then she took a deep breath and stretched it out again.

'I'll be quick,' Xena said. Then she wrapped the fingers of her left hand around Erin's wrist, holding Erin's hand in place. Quick as lightning, she brought the knife down, scraping across Erin's palm. The cut was deep and true. Droplets of ruby red blood began to pool in the wound and, as Erin turned her hand sideways, to drip into the bowl being held by Aphrodite.

'Is that enough?' Xena asked Aphrodite, all business.

'it should be.'

'You alright?' Xena was looking at Erin with some concern. The girl had gone slightly pale.

Erin swallowed and nodded as Xena started to wrap a bandage around her injured hand.

Aphrodaite had retrieved another item from the shadows of the warehouse. It seemed to be a short throwing knife. At the sight of it, Abibe flinched and turned away.

''I thought you had enough blood'

'We do,' Aphrodite said. 'This is for cutting the time portal.'

Now it was Xena who'd gone pale. She was staring at the new knife, the strangest expression on her face.

'Xena?' Erin asked.

'It's hers.' Aphrodite said, gesturing at the knife, 'Gabrielle's.'

'I thought she fought with a staff.'

'Only at first. Later on she used sais. That's one of her sias.'

Xena seemed to have regained her composure. 'It's time,' she said.

'In every possible sense of the word,' Aphrodite replied with a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

Aphrodite's face became serious then and she handed the sai to Xena.

'Dip it in the blood,' she said.

'Don't you have to do it?'

'Oh no. This is ajob for the hlast hero.. besides, we need the power of love to open the portal and gabrielle's soulmate wielding Gabrielle's sai seems like a pretty powerful combination to me.'

Xena didn't say anything, but hse seemed hesitant as she took the sai from Aphrodite, like she didn't want to touch it.

'So strange to think that she held this,' she murmured. Then, with a hand which was no longer steady, she dipped the sai in the bowl of bllod, turning it over and over so that the blade was covered with it.

'The blood of the last Amazon on a blade held by the last hero,' whispered Aphrodite. 'Time for the last goddess to play her part,' Xena said with a sad little smile. She turned to face Aphrodite then. 'I am truly sorry you have to do this. I never sihe d you harm. You were always the best of your kind.'

'And you of yours,' Aphrodite said. 'it was an honour to be your patron.'

'if there was any way…'

'Xena don't. It's all for the greater good, remember? That's what you were all about. Besides, there's no need to be sad. When you change the world back to the way it should be, I'll come right back along with it. This isn't goodbye. I'm just going away for a while, but I'll be back soon, just as I was.'

Xena pulled Aphrodite into an awkward hug. The goddess hesitated for a moment and then seemed to fall into Xena's arms.

'You've gone all soft on me,' Aphrodite whispered.

'never tell anyone I did that,' was Xena's grunted reply.

The two of them pulled apart and Aphrodite took a deep breath. 'Make a door,' she said. 'Just use the sai to cut one. And while you're doing it, think of her and think of the time you want to return to. It should be sometime before japa, but not too long beforel. You don't want to change history too much. And oick a happy time. It's easier to connectot those.

'All our times were happy.'

'This isn't the time to be sentimental. Pick something that stands out for you. A vivid memory. Describe it to me and then make the door.'

'Ok,' Xena paused for a moment to think. . 'It's after the incident with Genia. When Genia and you left, Gabrielle and I had dinner on a clifftop and I put on the flying helmet. We flew over the Aegean for hours. Then, when it got dark, we landed back on that clifftop. That's where we'll go back to.'

'How long before Japa was that?'

'it was days, just days. We took the helmet straight back to Hermes, spent some time with the Amazons, and then Akemi's messenger came to find us.'

'Then that's perfect.'

Xena raised her arm and sliced the sai into thin air, tracing out the shape of a doorway. The knife seemed to cut through space and there was a shimmer, but nothing else.

'it's not working,' She turned to Aphrodite in frustration.

Aphrodite placed her hand over Xena's on the hilt of the sai. 'It will now,' she said.

Together, Xena and Aphrodite traced the shape of the doorway again. This time, there was a great ripping sound and a piece of the sky seemed to fall waay, leaving a rectangular hole the size and shape of a person. Through it, Erin could see stars and hear the sound of distant waves crashing onto a beach.

Xena wasn't looking at the doorway. She had turned to Aphrodite who had crumpled to the ground and was lying, silent and still. 'I promise we'll make this right,' Xena said to her. Then she reached out and took Erin by the hand. 'Time to find your destiny,' she said.

And together they stepped through the doorway.


	12. Chapter 12

_2000 years before Pawnee…_

Gabrielle was gathering fire wood. She moved quietly, slowly, enjoying the feel of the warm air on her face and arms. It was one of those days which was so bright that you could almost smell the sunshine. Even this late in the evening, there was no hint of cold in the slight breeze. A small smile was playing around the corners of Gabrielle's lips as she gathered up branch after branch. She couldn't remember the last time she'd felt this happy. It wasn't a dizzy, frantic happiness. Instead, it was a kind of quiet contentment.

'Gabrielle!' Xena's voice came ringing through the trees from the direction of the clifftop. There was no urgency in the shout.

At the sound, Gabrielle's smile grew wider. She found herself remembering how Xena's arms had felt around her as they'd flown above the Aegean. The memory made her shiver.

'Coming,' she shouted back and hurried up the hill to Xena.

Her soulmate (and Gabrielle had no doubt now that she was that) was seated on the clifftop where she'd given her Sappho's poem earlier. Xena's armour was spread out on the ground around her and she was clad only in her shift. She was in the process of picking up all their things and packing them into Argo's saddlebags for the night. The sunlight was picking out the highlights in her raven hair and making her features seem softer than usual. There was a fluttering in Gabrielle's stomach as she looked at her.

Xena glanced up and smiled, their eyes meeting. A jolt of something like electricity seemed to shoot thought Grabrielle, tugging at something deep within her. Every time she looked into Xena's eyes these days, she seemed to feel some connection between them, like a rope tethering them together.

'Hi,' Xena said and Gabrielle's smile widened again at the familiarity of her greeting.

'Did you miss me?' Gabrielle asked, unable to keep the teasing tone out of her voice.

'Always,' Xena said.

On an impulse, Gabrielle put down the firewood she was carrying and went to sit beside Xena. Automatically almost, Xena's arm went around her shoulders. With a little contented sigh, Gabrielle nestled into her side. This had been happening more and more recently; casual touches, lingering glances. Years before, they had drawn invisible boundaries for themselves, lines they wouldn't cross for reasons Gabrielle had long forgotten, but those lines seemed to have blurred recently. Everything had been different since the time they'd spent with Odin and the Valkyrie.

'I was wondering where we should camp,' Xena said.

At this, Gabrielle smiled again. Not long ago, Xena would never have consulted her about where to camp. Xena would just have camped somewhere and Gabrielle would have gone along with it. Now though, Xena seemed to be behaving more and more as though the two of them were truly equal partners.

'Why not right here?' Gabrielle asked.

'It's not very sheltered.'

'It's so warm it doesn't matter. And it's so beautiful here…'

On the word 'beautiful', Xena had glanced up sharply and started to grin. 'Alright, birthday girl,' she said, 'we'll camp here.' Then she leaned down and gently kissed the top of Gabrielle's head.

'What was that for?' Gabrielle asked.

Xena shrugged. 'Just because you're you and I'm me and we're here together in this lovely place. What more could anyone ever want?'

'Nothing at all,' Gabrielle said and planted a kiss of her own on Xena's cheek. She allowed herself to lean into Xena for another long moment and then she stood and started to spread out their bedrolls side by side, so close they were touching. They'd slept like that for years now. It had started the night after Perdicus had died. She'd been crying and Xena had moved their bedrolls together to comfort her. At first it was only when one of them was hurt or upset, but, sometime after Illusia, it had become their normal routine.

'I hope Genia will be ok,' Gabrielle said as she slipped into her bedroll.

'She's a good kid,' Xena said, lying down beside her. 'And she has Aphrodite on her side.'

Xena was on her back and Gabrielle curled up on her side, head on Xena's shoulder, one arm stretched across Xena's middle, a hand rubbing small circles on Xena's stomach. One of Xena's own arms had come up around Gabrielle's shoulders and her fingers were lazily playing with Gabrielle's hair. 'And love is a powerful ally,' Xena's voice was low and soft.

'The most powerful of all,' Gabrielle agreed. Then, after a pause, she added 'Where shall we go tomorrow?'

'Where would you like to go? We have to take the helmet back to Hermes at some point, but I don't think he'll miss it for a few more days, so we could always take a roundabout route.'

Gabrielle thought for a moment. She wanted to keep her current feelings of peace and contentment, wanted to go somewhere they could relax. 'Amazon country,' she said at last.

Amazingly, Xena didn't protest. Her disdain for spending long periods of time with the Amazons was well known 'Amazon country it is,' she said.

Gabrielle smiled again as she turned her face into Xena's shoulder and settled down to sleep.

From the trees behind them, another Xena was watching. Two thousand years older and wearing jeans and a jacket, but otherwise looking exactly the same. Except for the fact that there were tears streaming down her face.

'Are you ok?' Erin asked from beside her.

'I will be,' Xena said. 'We'll put this right and then everything will be ok.'


	13. Chapter 13

Gabrielle sighed in annoyance. Xena was restless tonight. Every time Gabrielle started to fall asleep, Xena would sigh or change positions and jolt her back to wakefulness. Eventually, she pulled away from Xena's embrace, propped herself up on one elbow and eyed the other woman.

'What's the matter?' she asked trying to keep the hint of exasperation out of her voice.

'Nothing,' Xena replied, somewhat defensive. She was lying on her back, one arm flung carelessly above her head, the other hovering near her chakram which was on the ground next to them.

'You won't lie still,' Gabrielle complained.

'Sorry,' Xena said. 'I just can't shake the feeling that we're not alone out here.'

Gabrielle glanced around at the dark clifftop. 'I can't see anyone. It's just us and a thousand seagulls.'

'I know you're probably right, but I just can't seem to settle.'

'Well, please try. I'm exhausted and I didn't get much sleep last night with all your practical jokes.'

At the mention of her teasing, a slight grin appeared on Xena's face. 'Sorry about that,' she said.

'You're not sorry at all,' Gabrielle was smiling too now.

'No, I'm not,' Xena said. 'But I am sorry for keeping you awake now.' And with that, she wrapped Gabrielle up in her arms again and then settled back into silence.

After only a moment, Xena sighed loudly. Gabrielle closed her eyes and tried to ignore it. A second later, Xena had lifted her head up and was energetically looking around her.

'Xena!' Gabrielle was making no effort to hide her annoyance now.

'I'm sorry. I just…'

'Look,' Gabrielle said 'either lie down and go to sleep or go look for imaginary people in the bushes and let me sleep.'

'I'll go to sleep.' Xena lay back down again and lasted maybe a minute before she'd sat up. 'Maybe I will go and have a look around,' she muttered.

'Whatever makes you happy, love,' Gabrielle said as Xena stood and walked purposefully in the direction of some of the larger bushes which surrounded their clifftop camp. Gabrielle pulled their sleeping furs more tightly around her and let herself drift off.

When she awoke, it was still dark and there was a warm presence pressed against her back. Long arms were wrapped around her, holding her tightly like they never wanted to let go. Warm breath tickled her ear.

'I'm guessing you didn't find any monsters in the woods,' she said.

The arms wrapped themselves around her even more tightly and she felt a soft kiss on the top of her head.

'What was that for?' She asked. It wasn't unusual for Xena to kiss her like that, but it didn't usually happen with no prompting at all. And Xena hadn't seemed to be in a kissing mood earlier on.

'No reason,' Xena was so close that her voice seemed to echo through Gabrielle. 'You just looked so peaceful lying there.'

'Well you weren't waking me up every five minutes and telling me there were people watching us from the bushes.'

'I'm sorry,' Xena said and this time there seemed to be very real sorrow in her voice. The teasing tone from earlier was gone entirely.

'It's ok,' Gabrielle said, surprised. 'I'm not really annoyed.'

'Good,' Xena said and Gabrielle felt another kiss on her head. 'I couldn't stand it if you were.'

'Xena, are you ok? You seem sad.'

'Sad? No,' and there was another squeeze of the arms. 'How could I be sad when I'm with you?' There was a pause and then, in a small voice 'You do know I love you, right?'

'Yes, of course I do. I love you too.'

And that was when she heard it, a sharp intake of ragged breath and something like a sniffle.

'Xena, are you crying?'

'No…' But Gabrielle was sure she was. She reached down to where Xena's hands were resting across her stomach. She took one of them in both of hers and kissed the knuckles

'I just…' Xena's breathing seemed a little more under control now. 'I just need you to know how grateful I am for each moment with you, how much I look forward to these times we spend together. You gave me back my life all those years ago in Potideia and you've been giving it back to me every day since.'

'Xena, where's all this coming from?'

'I just need you to know that because I don't say it enough.'

'You don't have to, sweetheart. I know it already. You show me every day. You look after me and keep me safe. And you gave me my life back too. Without you I'd still be in Potideia…'

'Oh no. You always would have found a way out.'

'That doesn't matter. What matters is that you were my way. That you are my way.'

'Thank you,' Xena said and curled herself up even more tightly against Gabrielle's back.

Once Gabrielle was asleep, Xena made herself stand, made herself walk away and back to where Erin was hiding and she made herself watch as the other her, the younger her came back from pursuing imaginary enemies. She made herself watch as that other Xena slid beneath the covers and wrapped her arms lazily, brazenly, indifferently around the sleeping Gabrielle. And watching that was the hardest thing she had ever had to do.


	14. Chapter 14

Erin was dragging her feet as they walked, stumbling occasionally. It didn't help matters that they were walking through dense forest, next to the road. On the road, the other Xena was walking next to Gabrielle, Argo following behind them. That Xena and Gabrielle were chatting animatedly, paying no attention whatsoever to the forest beside them. Argo, however, kept glancing towards the trees, becoming more and more agitated.

'You ok?' Xena asked Erin.

Erin nodded. 'Fine,' she said, unconvincingly.

'It's ok if you're not ok. We've been walking for hours now and you're not used to it. Anyone would be tired.'

'You're not.'

'I'm…' Xena paused 'I'm home and I guess coming home after a long time would help anyone forget that they're tired.'

'Did you live around here then?' Erin asked, glancing at the trees with their complete lack of any signs of human habitation.

'Not exactly. We didn't exactly live anywhere which made everywhere feel a bit like home. It's just being back in Greece, in this time. This was my time. The air is different. It's fresher, younger.'

Erin glanced towards the pair they were following. 'Does seeing her make it feel like home too?'

Xena looked down, embarrassed for a moment. 'Yes,' she said. 'She could make anywhere feel like home.'

'She seems like a lovely person.'

Xena smiled.'She is.'

They lapsed into silence and Xena found her gaze wandering to Gabrielle and her counterpart. Watching herself from behind was the strangest thing. It had always been bad enough running into Leah or Meg, but at least she knew they weren't really her. This woman though, this woman was her.

Except she wasn't. Xena could explain it, but she knew she'd changed. Her younger self seemed to have a certain confidence, a certain arrogance which Xena knew she didn't have any longer. She realised then that it was Gabrielle who had given her that confidence. Without Gabrielle, there was nothing to be confident about.

She thought back to the feeling she'd had as she held Gabrielle in her arms again last night and she hated her younger self then. She remembered how she'd always taken Gabrielle for granted, always assumed that they would be together indefinitely because there was no reason to think they wouldn't. That arrogance had made her lazy, had ensured that she would never have taken the initiative and acted on her feelings for Gabrielle because there was no hurry and there was always time. Their days were filled with each other, with all the opportunities in the world to act on the feelings they each had and, because they had so many chances, they had never taken one of them. They always had the promise of tomorrow. Except now they didn't.

The road had taken a turn away from the trees and Erin moved to follow, but Xena held her back.

'Shouldn't we go after them?' Erin asked.

Xena shook her head. She suddenly didn't want to see them anymore, couldn't stand seeing that other Xena waste a hundred more chances with Gabrielle. 'I know where they're going.' She said. 'I've already been there. We'll take a shortcut and get there ahead of them.'

Xena turned in the opposite direction, Erin following close behind.

'I like it here,' Erin said after a while. 'The forest feels peaceful. I feel like I could live here.'

'You could,' Xena said. 'This is Amazon Country. The land has been theirs for centuries. There are no villages this far out, but they use this area for hunting.'

'Will we meet some? Amazons I mean?'

'Oh yes,' Xena said. 'We're heading into the heart of their territory. That's where the other Xena is headed too.'

'And what will happen when she and Gabrielle get there?'

'They'll meet the son of an old friend. His name's Xenon.'

'Xenon?' Erin paused. 'Was he named after you?'

'Yes. I helped his mother at his birth. His mother is…' An expression of sadness flickered across Xena's face 'was a great Amazon queen and his father was a centaur.'

'Centaurs are real?'

'They're some of the wisest and noblest people you could ever hope to meet, but they were rare even in this time.'

'What happened to them?'

'Their descendants are human. In fact, Xenon is your ancestor.'

Erin stared at Xena then 'Like my great, great, great, great, great grandfather?'

'Add in about two hundred more greats and yes.'

'Wow,' Erin lapsed into silence, not sure how to process this.

'But we're not here for Xenon,' Xena said. 'We're here to save Gabrielle's life and get her and…well, me together.'

'Do you have a plan?' Erin asked.

Xena nodded 'But I'm going to need your help,' she said.


	15. Chapter 15

'I think it's time you started to look the part.'

Erin looked up to see Xena holding a bundle of what looked like mostly feathers and beads. They were hiding just outside the Amazon village and had been for several days. Xena had spent the time watching her former self and Gabrielle as they talked with the spirit of Ephiny and assisted with the birth of Xenon's son. Erin had spent the time hiding. Xena apparently didn't trust her woodcraft abilities enough to take her anywhere near the Amazon village for fear of detection. Erin couldn't blame her for that, but it did mean that the past couple of days had been rather boring.

'Look the part?'

Xena shook out the bundle to reveal a top and skirt made out of some kind of animal skin.

'I don't think they're my size,' Erin said, doubtfully. The clothes looked small enough to have been made for a child.

Xena smiled at that. 'They're your size alright. The Amazons aren't a shy people.' She held them out to Erin who took them reluctantly.

'Did you steal them?'

'I'm afraid I did. I wouldn't usually condone stealing, but needs must. I couldn't exactly go and barter for them while dressed like this.' She gestured at the jeans and jacket she was still wearing.

'Won't the people in the village notice if I turn up wearing their clothes?'

'I stole them from a merchant.' There was a hint of impatience in Xena's voice and Erin realised she'd have to stop stalling and actually put the things on.

She retreated behind a tree and spent a good five minutes arranging and re-arranging various feathers and beads and pieces of leather and, no matter how she re-arranged them, the skirt still felt hopelessly short and the top hopelessly low cut. She'd never felt more flat-chested in her life or more aware of her stomach or the length of her legs. She stepped out from behind the tree feeling more awkward and ungainly than she ever had before. Her skin, pale from a lifetime of being indoors and hidden by trousers and long sleeves, seemed to almost glow in the sunlight.

Xena looked her up and down appraisingly. 'Suits you,' she said at last.

Erin glared at her. 'I look dreadful.'

'You look like an Amazon,' Xena paused and then added 'well almost. We need to do something about your hair.'

She made Erin sit down on a nearby tree stump and began to braid small sections of Erin's long, dark hair, weaving more feathers into it. Then she tossed Erin a pair of study boots and a collection of yet more feathers.

'What's this?' Erin asked, holding up the feathers.

'A headdress.' Was Xena's reply and Erin could swear she was trying not to laugh.

Erin examined the headdress. The feathers appeared to have come from a particularly luminous peacock and they were interspersed with small, garishly painted stones. 'You're not serious?'

'All the cool Amazon kids are wearing them.'

'If I ever do become an Amazon queen, I'm going to outlaw these,' Erin muttered, placing the headdress over her braided hair.

'Good,' Xena said. 'Just one last thing,' and she passed her sword.

'But I don't know how to use it.'

'Then make sure you don't have to.' Xena said, fixing it and a scabbard onto Erin's back. 'You have to carry it. All the Amazons have one and you'd look out of place without it. Just don't be tempted to draw it. Ever. Like you said, you don't know how to use it. If a fight seems imminent, talk your way out of it or run.' Xena paused then, sadness creeping into her eyes.

'Are you ok?'

Xena shook her head a little. 'Fine,' she said. 'It's just I gave that advice to Gabrielle once, a long time ago.'

'We'll get her back,' Erin said. Xena still hadn't told her the plan, but she guessed that her change of clothing had something to do with it.

'The first thing we have to do,' Xena said 'is to get me looking like me. I can't keep sneaking around in jeans. I need to be dressed like her.'

Erin had seen the other Xena's distinctive costume. 'But she's dressed like her. How can we steal clothes that she's wearing?'

'There are two sets,' Xena said.

'You had a spare? What for?'

Xena looked a little embarrassed. 'Laundry day.' She paused then added. 'Never tell anyone that. Might ruin my image.'

'Your secret's safe with me.'

'You'll have to sneak into the village and steal my… her… spare battle dress. It's in Argo's saddlebags. Go in, get it, and bring it straight back to me. Don't speak to anyone unless you have to. It's a small village so they'll know you're a stranger, but luckily another tribe are visiting them at the moment. Anyone you meet will assume you're one of them. If anyone speaks to you first, be polite, but get away as soon as possible.'

Erin nodded.

'And your name's not exactly Greek. If anyone asks, you're Minya, after someone Gabrielle and I once knew.'

'Minya, got it. And what happens after that?'

'One step at a time,' Xena said and started leading Erin towards the Amazon village.


	16. Chapter 16

The Amazon village was full of women. This fact really shouldn't have been surprising, but, for some reason, it was. Erin had never seen so many women in one place before, or at least so many women without any men at all. It was disconcerting g for a moment, but very quickly she began to find it almost comforting.

And what women they were; all of them were talk and strong and proud. Every head was held high, every eye filled with a fierce kind of joy at simple existence. It was clear that there was a lot of love in this village. Everywhere Erin looked women were singing to children, laughing with friends, holding hands with lovers. There was an overwhelming atmosphere of support, of family. And there was a sense that she was being absorbed into it. People were smiling at her as she passed them, girls her own age beckoned to her to come and sit with them. It was taking all her self-control not to; in her own time, friendship had been a weakness. She'd never had the opportunity for companionship.

She looked down, focusing on the ground, on the mission at hand. Even as she did, she felt a small smile tugging at the corners of her lips. She didn't only feel as though she should belong, she felt as though she truly, truly did belong and that was rather remarkable.

'You any good at baking?' The question had come from the entrance of one of the huts to her left and the speaker was a girl slightly younger than Erin.

Erin looked around, hoping to find that the question had been addressed to someone else, but there was no one else around.

She knew she should just ignore the speaker, but she didn't want to be rude.

'Not really,' she said.

The girl sighed in frustration. 'They're staying with us and mother says it's a great honour and we have to make them feel welcome. I'm meant to be baking a cake for them because it was her birthday last week, but I can't bake.'

'Who's birthday?' Erin asked.

The girl stared at her. 'Hers.' She said as though this was an explanation. Then she added 'Queen Gabrielle's. She's staying here. Her and the Warrior Princess.'

Erin moved closer to the girl. So far her search for Argo, and with her, Xena's clothes, had proved fruitless, but this girl must know where they were.

'What kind of cake are you trying to make?' She asked.

The girl opened her mouth to reply, but she was interrupted by a voice from within the house. 'I'll help you bake.'

'Bit it's for you!' The girl said with another sigh as Gabrielle stepped out into the daylight. She was shorter than she'd looked from a distance, but very pretty with laughing g eyes. There was a rare energy about her. A kind of warmth which Erin rarely encountered.

'I can still help you bake,' Gabrielle said ' and there's really no need to make me a cake.' She went to sit beside the girl and then caught sight of Erin. 'Are you ok?' She asked.

Erin realised she was staring and hastily looked away, unsure of what to do. She was fairly certain that talking to Gabrielle would be number one on the list of things Xena didn't want her to do. If anyone was going to guess that she didn't belong here, it would be the famously perceptive Gabrielle.

Gabrielle was still looking at her. 'I don't think we've met,' she said. Her tone was welcoming, but there was an undercurrent which was almost suspicion.

'I'm...visiting...' Erin stammered 'from another tribe.'

'Which tribe?'

Erin sidestepped the question a little. 'I'm from...er...Pawnee. It's north of here'

'Must be pretty far north.'

'Oh, it is. Really, really far north.'

Gabrielle still didn't look entirely convinced, but seemed to have decided to let it go for now. 'Want to help with the cake?'

Strangely, Erin did. There was something very compelling about Gabrielle. She knew this would be unwise though. 'I'm terrible at cooking. I'd ruin it. But...' and she suddenly saw an opportunity 'I'm great with animals. I heard you might be looking for a groom for your horse.'

'Argo probably could do with a rub down. She's in the stables round the back.

Erin turned and practically fled in the direction Gabrielle had indicated. She found the stables easily enough and, luckily, they contained only one horse. She had no idea how to groom a horse and decided Argo was probably fine as she was. The saddlebags were on the ground at the end of Argo's stall. Between her and them was 16 hands of suddenly quite fierce looking horse.

Erin approached slowly and was instantly met with stamping and snorting. She changed tactics and tried to dart quickly around the horse instead only to be met with a fresh round of snorting.

'Please girl,' she said softly. 'Xena sent me.'

ON the word, 'Xena', the horse seemed to calm instantly. 'Please,' Erin said again. 'I just want to get to the saddlebags.'

Argo moved forwards and sniffed at Erin suspiciously, lingering on the fastenings on her clothes which Xena had helped tie. Apparently satisfied, the horse stepped back and to the side and allowed Erin to pass.

Once she had reached the saddlebags, Xena's spare battledress was easy enough to find. Erin wrapped it up in the non-descript sleep shift it had been nestled against, tucked it under her arm and began the journey back to Xena.


	17. Chapter 17

Erin stepped backwards a little as Xena emerged from the bushes she'd changed behind. Now in her full warrior regalia she looked rather different. She seemed taller somehow and the sunlight positively glinted off her armoured breastplate. The sword at her back gleamed. On her hip was the circular weapon she'd called a chakram. Erin had no idea what it did and she wasn't sure she wanted to find out. The weapons were as old as Xena was: she'd brought them with her from the future.

'You alright?' Xena asked with some concern at Erin's worried expression.

'You look...' Erin faltered, at a loss for words.

'No idea what I look like, kid,' Xena said 'but I feel like myself.' And with that she gave a kind of whoop, like a high pitched battle cry, and she was in the air, jumping higher than it should have been possible for anyone to jump. Then she turned head over heels in mid-air, landing at exactly the spot from which she'd taken off. She reached a hand down to her hip and grasped the chakram, hurling it away from her and over Erin's head. It flew in a high arc, ricocheting at impossible angles off trees and bushes and eventually coming to rest in Xena's hand once more.

Xena grinned and threw an arm around Erin's shoulders 'Feels good to be home,' she said. She steered them through the trees in the direction of the Amazon village. 'Think it might be time to tell you the next part of the plan.'

'You're going to switch places with her,' Erin said.

Xena nodded 'Let's hope I can pass as me. The first problem is getting her out of the way though.'

Something about Xena's tone caught Erin's attention. 'You don't like her much do you? You don't like you I mean.'

Xena looked down, a little embarrassed. 'Truth is, I'm jealous of her. She has Gabrielle and she doesn't realise what a rare gift that is. She just saunters around like it's something which she can just take for granted, like Gabrielle will always be there, like Gabrielle will always love her and she has all the time in the world to act on it. She's a fool.'

'But she's you.'

'Then I'm a fool.'

They walked in silence for a few moments. Then Xena took a deep breath and said 'You're not going to like this next bit, kid. To get her out of the way, you're going to need to keep her busy.'

Erin stopped walking. 'Me? How?'

'You're going to need to be rescued. In the time you buy me, I'll leave with Gabrielle. You just keep distracting her, make sure she doesn't follow us. Keep her occupied for a few days then let her follow us to Japa.'

'Then what? Why not just tell her everything now?'

Xena shook her head. 'Wouldn't work. She's a fool. A heroic, strong-willed, bloody stubborn fool. She'd try to save everyone and it wouldn't work. She messed everything up the first time. This time I just need her out of the way. Afterwards, when it's done, you can tell her everything and hope that she does what's right. For her and Gabrielle.'

Erin looked at Xena properly then. 'When what's done?' She asked slowly.

'Nothing you need concern yourself with. You just keep her...me out of the way.'

'I'm not going to see you again am I?'

Xena didn't say anything.

'But that's not right!'

'It is. I was never meant to exist. Not like this. Not without her.'

'I won't let you!'

Xena laughed a little at that. 'There's that Amazon spirit. Now listen carefully...'

But Erin wasn't in the mood for listening. 'You can't do this. Please don't do this!' And she flew at Xena with no idea of what she was trying to achieve. Xena gently grasped Erin's arms and pinned them to her sides, holding her still.

'It's called the greater good, kid.' She said.

'But that's stupid! You're the greater good!'

Xena ignored her and began to speak quickly and quietly. 'Gabrielle and I, we had an enemy once named Alti. One of our greatest enemies in fact. She was an Amazon shameness. She existed outside of time. Kept turning up and making trouble for us. That other Xena, she hates Alti, makes bad decisions when Alti's around, so we're going to make her think that Alti's here, that she attacked you. Her attacks have certain hallmarks. I can replicate them. I'll tie you up in a cave, make sure Xena finds you and you tell her it was Alti who attacked you. You swear it and you act scared. You make it sound like Alti's coming for you, like Xena needs to hide you. And you make it convincing. Everything depends on that.'

Erin was shaking her head, twisting and struggling in Xena's grasp. 'I can't! I won't! I won't help hurt you!'

'You'll be saving me.'

'I won't! I won't!'

With a sigh, Xena released her hold on Erin, for long enough to deliver two sharp jabs to the girl's neck. Erin crumpled backwards into Xena's arms. 'Sorry' Xena whispered as she picked her up and carried her off in the direction of a cave. 'Don't fail me, kid' she added a moment later. 'Everything rests on you now.'


	18. Chapter 18

The other Xena, the younger one, had set off into the forest hours ago on a hunting trip and had yet to return. The older Xena could only hope that Erin had played her part well.

She took a deep breath and stood up straight, fully out in the open for the first time in days. No more skulking in the forest, dreaming about Gabrielle, no more silently brooding, silently wishing she could step back even further in time, to that first day in Potideia, to laying eyes on Gabrielle, young and strong and beautiful, for the first time. The memory of that first day assailed her senses suddenly. Gabrielle's long, golden hair shining in the sunlight, the joy in her eyes that first time Xena had pulled her up onto Argo's back, the feel of her hands placed uncertainly around Xena's waist. Xena would have given anything to have been able to live those years again. That first night she would have held Gabrielle's hands more tightly as they rode together, would have laid out their sleeping mats close enough to touch. And later, long before the business with Callisto and Hope she would have told Gabrielle she loved her.

Xena shook her head a little. The past was a foreign country and dwelling there never did anyone any good. It was enough that she had a second chance here and now, enough that in a few short minutes she would see Gabrielle again, enough that she had a few more nights to hold her in her arms.

She walked towards the Amazon village, trying to remember the mannerisms of two thousand years ago. Had she always swung her arms like this? Had she always worn her chakram in exactly this way? For a moment, self-consciousness threatened to overwhelm her and then her confidence came flooding back. She was still herself. The chakram toss earlier had proved that. She had only to be that which she had always been.

And then she was in the Amazon village. Sights and sounds long forgotten bombarded her on all sides and she wanted to cry with the relief of it. This was her time. These were her people. She loved every one of them.

There was a centaur coming towards her, a real life, flesh and blood centaur and he was smiling at her, holding his baby son in his arms.

'Xenon!' She said, joy in her voice. 'How's the baby?'

'Doing well,' her godson replied. 'He's strong and healthy.'

For some reason, there were tears in her eyes. She clapped Xenon on the shoulder 'Congratulations,' she said. 'I know I've said that before but I really mean it.'

'Thank you. Will you and Gabrielle be staying with us for a while?'

It was the most tempting offer Xena had ever had. How easy it would be to stay here in this village, with these people, with Gabrielle by her said. But she knew that, in three days' time, they had to be in a clearing many miles from here where Akemi's messenger could find them. 'We'd love to stay, but we have business in Thebes.'

'You will come and visit though?'

At that, Xena could only nod, emotions threatening to overwhelm her. 'Take good care of him' she said softly and moved away from centaur, towards the queen's hut.

And there she was. Gabrielle, looking just as she always had, bent over a scroll, quill scratching furiously. Xena paused in the doorway to the hut for a moment, drinking in the sight. Sensing Xena's presence, Gabrielle looked up and smiled that particular intimate smile which was for Xena's eyes only.

'Hey you,' she said. 'I was wondering where you'd got to. You'd been gone a while.'

And Xena couldn't think of a single thing to say. She just stood and stared, tears in her eyes.

'Love?' Gabrielle said. 'Love, are you alright?'

Xena swallowed and nodded. Still not quite able to speak, she came over to Gabrielle and pulled her into a fierce hug. A little bemused, Gabrielle hugged her back just as tightly. 'Xena?' She asked again.

Finally regaining the power of speech, Xena pulled back and gently took Gabrielle's hands in her own. 'It's good to see you writing. I know you haven't done much recently.'

'I just suddenly had this idea. What if you and I were living in the future? I was making up all these amazing tools that people would have, like huge metal birds they could fly around in or things which let them talk to people who were really far away.'

Xena forced a smile 'I wonder what made you think of that?'

'Want to read it?'

When Xena shook her head, Gabrielle looked a little crushed. 'I'd love to read it soon,' she said hastily 'but we should pack up. The king of Thebes has sent us a message asking us to go to him there.'

'But it's late,' Gabrielle said. 'Let's stay here tonight and leave first thing in the morning.'

'We really should leave now.'

'But we'd only travel a couple of miles before we had to stop and camp anyway. And there's a bed here. An actual bed.'

As always, Xena couldn't say no to her and they ended up curled up on the bed together, Gabrielle snuggled up in Xena's arms. Gabrielle fell asleep almost instantly, but Xena lay awake for a long while, wishing that she could live inside that moment forever.


	19. Chapter 19

**There was something different about Xena. Gabrielle couldn't put her finger on it, but it was there. A certain tenseness perhaps, a certain unease. She dropped back a little, studying Xena from a distance as she walked. The other woman seemed uncomfortable almost, jumpy. And last night had been very strange. It wasn't that Xena wasn't affectionate usually. It was just that she was usually more casual about it. Last night she'd wrapped herself around Gabrielle with something approaching desperation. And this morning, Xena had left the Amazon village in a hurry.**

 **Xena was looking back over her shoulder now 'Is everything ok?' She asked.**

 **'I was just about to ask you the same question, love. You seem jumpy.'**

 **Xena had stopped walking now and was waiting for her to catch up. 'You know,' she said 'I don't even remember when you started calling me that.'**

 **'Calling you what?'**

 **'Love.'**

 **Gabrielle paused to think. She couldn't remember either. The word just felt so natural. Her love for Xena was something she didn't question. It was as easy and simple as breathing. 'You don't mind do you?' She said at last.**

 **'Mind? Of course I don't mind. I feel priviledged that you think of me in that way.' Xena had walked back towards her and now she held out a hand. Surprised, Gabrielle took it. Holding hands was a new development.**

 **They resumed walking, Xena's hip bumping against hers. After a moment's silence, Xena coughed a little awkwardly and said. 'You know I feel the same even even if I don't say it as much.'**

 **'Xena, what's going on? That's about the third time in two days that you've said that.'**

 **'I just...' Xena looked down at the ground. 'What do you want Gabrielle? For your life, I mean?'**

 **Gabrielle paused, taken aback. 'I guess I...well this...'**

 **'But, when you were younger, didn't you dream of more? Marriage and children and being a famous bard?'**

 **Gabrielle laughed. 'What did you dream of? I bet it wasn't being a wandering hero.'**

 **'It kind of was to be honest.'**

 **'Then I think you're the exception to how most people are. Most of us don't know what we want when we're yoing so we fall back on comventional dreams like marriage. Then we grow up and find something better than our dreams.'**

 **'And being a famous bard?'**

 **Gabrielle shrugged 'maybe I still will be. And if not, I'll still have some good stories to tell my grandchildren.'**

 **Xena looked at her then, something approaching panic in her eyes. 'Grandchildren? I would understand if you wanted to leave and meet and man or whatever.'**

 **'Xena, no.' Gabrielle stopped and turned to face Xena, taking both of the other woman's hands in hers. 'I'm not going to leave. I don't want to leave. I meant Eve's children or the children of any other kids we might end up raising together for whatever reason.'**

 **'You're sure?'**

 **'Xena, why are you so insecure all of a sudden?'**

 **'I'm just thinking about the future. We can't travel forever.'**

 **'We won't. We'll settle down somewhere when we're ready.'**

 **'We should settle with the Amazons. They're your people. And if I ever say otherwise, ignore me.'**

 **'But you don't like the Amazons.'**

 **'I'm developing a new respect for them. Promise me we can settle there.'**

 **Gabrielle laughed. 'Ok, Xena, I promise. But please tell me what's bothering you today.'**

 **But Xena shook her head 'Nothing,' she said. 'Nothing at all.'**

 **Xena was proving difficult to distract. And Erin wasn't entirely sure that she was being a convincing damsell in distress. It wasn't a role that she had much experience playing. Her instinct was usually to take charge of situations, not stand around looking helpless.**

 **She had awoken, after the older Xena's nerve pinch, in a forest clearing tied to a tree. Apparently she was going to be a distraction whether she liked it or not. For a moment, she was tempted to simply tell the younger Xena everything, but being in this different world was gradually beginning to highlight all of the problems in her own world. She was starting to realise that the timeline did need to be put right and by whatever means necessaey. Xena's intended fate hurt her heart, but Xena had chosen that fate of her own free will. Erin had to support her decision and, selfishly, she wanted to secure a better future for herself, for the Amazon Nation.**

 **She had taken a deep breath and resigned herself to becoming a damsell in distress. Right on cue, the younger Xena had come into the clearing, chakram raised, mid-hunt. On seeing Erin, she had stopped, eyebrow raised. 'You look like you could do with some help.' She had said.**

 **Erin's heart had started to beat faster. Once, what seemed like a very long time ago, she had been president of her school drama society. She knew she cpuld act convincingly, but could she act convincingly enough to fool someone as perceptive as Xena? Hastily, she started to cry.**

 **Xena had come forward and untied her and she'd told the story of how Alti had captured her. Instantly, Xena had sprung into action, following the trail her older self had laid. At first she'd seemed entirely convinced by Erin's story, but now she was becomming more suspicious.**

 **They were walking fast through the forest, Erin still crying on and off and making sure to stumble at every opportunity.**

 **'What's your name anyway?' Xena said from in front of her. 'I never asked.'**

 **Erin hesitated and then gave the false name Xena had suggested earlier 'Minya.'**

 **Xena stopped and turned to look at her. 'Minya?' She said. 'That's not a very common name.'**

 **Erin didn't know how to answer that so she quickly faked another stumble. Unfortunately, her foot caught on a tree root and the fake stumble turned into a real one. Her ankle turned at an awkward angle and she hit the ground with a cry. Instantly Xena was beside her, fingers proding at her ankle, checking for a break.**

 **'Just a sprain,' Xena said after a moment. 'I'll bind it and we'll find you a staff to walk with.'**

 **Secretly, Erin was glad of the injury. At least it gave her a reason to walk slowly.**

 **Xena was wrapping a piece of material around the ankle now, tying it tightly. 'This person who attacked you,' she said. 'You sure her name was Alti?'**

 **'Quite sure.'**

 **'This isn't Alti's style. She wouldn't hide away after an attack. She'd come out and face me.'**

 **'It was her alright.'**

 **'What did she look like?'**

 **'Scary, tall, long hair.'**

 **'You don't remember anything else about her?'**

 **'It was dark. I was frightened.'**

 **Xena had finished binding the ankle now and was looking straight at Erin. 'And you say you're an Amazon?'**

 **'That's right.'**

 **'Then who's your queen?'**

 **'Gabrielle.'**

 **'She is your queen, but she doesn't rule. Someone does it on her behalf.'**

 **'My tribe lives far from here. You wouldn't have heard of our queen.'**

 **Xena fixed her with a steely glare. 'Try me.' She said. 'I'm very well travelled.'**

 **Erin hesitated and then said the first name she could think of which sounded vaguely Greek. 'Stella.'**

 **Instantly she knew she'd made a mistake because Xena's eyes hardened. 'That's not an Amazon name.'**

 **'Neither is Gabrielle. Our queen wasn't born an Amazon.'**

 **'Gabrielle is the only queen who wasn't born an Amazon.' Xena was glaring at her properly now. 'I think you're lying to me. I think you've been lying this whole time. I don't think Alti was here at all. I think someone else tied you up or you tied yourself up. And I think you're trying to distract me from something. And now I think it's time you told me who you really are and what you're really up to.'**


	20. Chapter 20

Erin was trying her best to improvise, she really was, but improvisation had never been her strong suit. 'I'm from one of the northern tribes,' she said. 'I'd heard tales of you and I wanted you to notice me. I wanted to be your companion, like Gabrielle is. I thought we could be friends.'

Xena wasn't buying it. 'How'd you know about Alti? It's the one name which makes me overreact, lose my sense of perspective and, because of that, not many people know about her.'

'I did a lot of research. I really do want to travel with you.'

'Sounds like a lot of effort to get me to make friends with you.'

Erin hesitated. 'I lied,' she said quickly. 'I don't want to be friends. I...I'm in love with you.'

'You've never met me before.'

'I'm in love with the stories of you. I wanted us to be together.'

'You're maybe fifteen summers old.'

'Age doesn't matter. Some couples have a thirty year age gap.'

'I'm not going to date a child. Besides I don't believe you can fall in love with someone you've never met.'

'Well I did.'

'What's your real name?'

'Minya. I told you.'

There was real anger in Xena's eyes now. 'And you're a liar. Minya's a friend of mine. You used her name, but I don't know how you knew it. Hers isn't a story which Gabrielle ever sings about.'

'Gabrielle told me about it. Last night, when I was in the Amazon village.'

Xena seemed to buy that. 'So what is your name? I know it's not Stella.'

Erin tried to think of anything at all which sounded vaguely ancient and Greek. 'Circe.'

'Not a wise name to choose. Wouldn't want to anger a witch.'

'Sappho.'

'Sappho's a friend of mine.'

Under the force of Xena's steely gaze, Erin crumpled. 'Erin.' She said at last

'So you're not Greek?'

'I think my family was once.'

Xena had moved to sit beside her and was looking her straight in the eyes. Erin swallowed. Hard. Those eyes were fierce. 'When you tripped just now,' Xena said. 'Did you do it delibrately?'

And suddenly Erin couldn't lie anymore. 'Yes.' She said.

'Because you were trying to slow me down?'

'Yes.'

'Why?'

Erin looked at the ground, at the trees, at the sky. Anywhere but at Xena. 'I'm trying to help you. You have to believe me. I just want to make everything right and save Gabrielle and...'

On the word 'Gabrielle', Xena had become instantly alert. Her hand flew to the chakram at her waist and Erin suddenly found that her throat was pressed against cold steal. 'Save Gabrielle from what?' Every syllable was like ice. 'You need to tell me everything right now.'

And Erin knew fear. The soldiers of her own world like children playing at terror compared to the full force of Xena's glare and the bite of her chakram. 'You told me to do it,' she blurted out. 'You came into my world and took me away from my home and my people and you brought me here to use me in some ritual.'

'I brought you here?' Erin could see Xena's mind work. The older woman's eyes fell to the long straight scar on her hand where the other Xena had cut her to open the portal. 'Who did that?'

'You did. In my time. You and Aphrodite. To bring me here.'

'When is your time?'

'The 21st century. You lived into my time and you found me because I'm the last of the Amazons...'

'And Aphrodite was the last goddess and I was the last hero.' Xena finished for her. 'A powerful combination. Now start from the beginning and tell me everything.'

And Erin did.


	21. Chapter 21

**Xena was moving with a purpose now. As soon as Erin had finished her tale, Xena had bundled both of them onto Argo's back and galloped off in the direction her older self had taken. They were heading for Japa. Erin didn't know the specifics of what the other Xena and Gabrielle were doing in Japa. All she knew was that everything was to end on the slopes of Mount Fuji. The younger Xena seemed to have more of an idea though or at least she had muttered the name 'Akemi' before starting their frantic gallop.**

 **'What are you going to do when you find them?' Erin asked, clinging onto Xena's waist. 'All she's going to do is save Gabrielle and leave you alive so you can be with Gabrielle afterwards. Everything's going to come right for you. You don't need to do anything!'**

 **'I don't trust her,' Xena replied. 'I don't trust her with Gabrielle.'**

 **'But she's you!'**

 **'I don't trust me. Never have. Who knows what all those years in your world have done to me. I was evil once.'**

 **'But you're...she's not!'**

 **'I'm a good actress. Besides I"m not convinced she's really me. There are far too many people who look like me wandering around.'**

 **And then they were galloping even faster, not pausing to sleep or eat. Xena was riding like someone possessed. Nothing and no one was going to come between her and Gabrielle. Soon they were on a ship and Xena was in the rigging, pulling on ropes and adjusting sails and the boat was moving faster than a boat ever should. The air grew warmer by the day, the sky bluer, the birds and fish more colourful and exotic and then a mountai range was rising out of the sea to meet them.**

 **'Japa.' Xena said, a look of grim determination on her face.**

 **Once they had landed, it was back to hard riding. Erin's hands had callouses from clinging onto Argo's saddle and every part of her body ached. Xena still showed no signs of tiring. They travelled over mountains and rivers and vast open plains. And then, all of a sudden they were in a dense forest with a solitary mountain rising up into the sky in the distance.**

 **'Is that Mount Fuji?' Erin knew is was before she asked, but she wanted confirmation.**

 **Xena nodded. 'And that means that the other me is somewhere nearby.'**

 **Their searching took on a different mood then. Xena became cautious. Slipping from tree to tree like a shadow, searching through the minutia of the forest floor. Every so often she would seem to find something and change direction abruptly. Erin had no idea what she was finding. She only followed behind, feet dragging, worrying about what the other Xena would say when she saw them.**

 **And when they finally did see them, ot was startling in its suddeness. There they were; Xena and Gabrielle, seated cross-legged on the forest floor, opposite one another, deep in conversation. They were touching, knee to knee and looking deep into one another's eyes. Gabrielle seemed focused on everything going on around them, eyes darting this way and that. Xena seemed focused on Gabrielle and Gabrielle alone.**

 **Beside Erin, the younger Xena paused and stared for a long moment. Then she turned to Erin. 'In your universe, I really lived without her for two thousand years?'**

 **'Maybe more than that.'**

 **'I can't imagine living without her for one year let alone two thousand.'**

 **'You were so sad when I met you. I'd never seen such sadness.'**

 **'Seems unfair that she should wait for all that time so I get to spend an eternity with her.'**

 **'But you're her.'**

 **'I'm not her yet. But I can imagine how she'd feel if Gabrielle was taken from her. I'm not sure I can let her lose Gabrielle now she has her again.'**

 **'What are you going to do.' Erin asked.**

 **'I'm going to talk to her,' Xena said.**


	22. Chapter 22

The older Xena had a head start of several days and, by the time they reached the slopes of Mount Fuji, she and Gabrielle had already been there for a week or more. Erin knew broadly what was to happen there; they would meet someone called Akemi, Xena would allow herself to be killed so that she could fight a monster in ghost form and, in so doing, she would free the souls of thousands of people trapped in a kind of purgatory. Gabrielle would have the chance to restore her to life and Xena's ghost would beg her not to for the sake of those souls. Gabrielle would acquiesce and the rest, as they say, is history. Erin had explained it as best she could to the younger Xena whose face had grown harder and more determined at every word.

And here they were in Japa, racing through the snow and the forests, tracking Xena and Gabrielle. Erin had no idea what the younger Xena's plan was beyond finding her older self and talking to her.

'They're close,' Xena said on the third day of hard riding. 'I can see where they made camp and there are three sets of footprints. Akemi's with them.'

'Was Akemi a friend? You…she seems to be willing to risk a lot for her.'

'I loved Akemi. She wasn't my soulmate like Gabrielle, but I loved her all the same,' Xena said in a tone which showed that, as far as she was concerned, that was reason enough.

They resumed their riding in silence until Xena suddenly held up a hand and went very still. Erin followed suit, trying hard not to make any noise at all. There were footsteps approaching them through the forest and then a running figure burst through the trees. It was the older Xena clad in strange golden armour with an expression approaching fear on her face. When she saw them, she ground to a halt, eyes running over her younger self and then Erin beside her.

'I'm sorry,' Erin started to say. 'I'm so sorry. I tried to keep her away from you, but she guessed everything. I…'

'It's alright,' the older Xena said. 'I knew she would. You just needed to keep her occupied for long enough for me to do this. Shame she wasn't just an hour slower. Then I'd be dead and there wouldn't be anything she could do.' She was eying her younger self warily.

The younger Xena came forwards. 'I can't let you do this,' she said. 'This is my destiny, not yours.'

'It's our destiny. I've had my life a thousand times over. All I want is to put the world right and to have a second chance with Gabrielle. If it's you who gets that chance with her then that's fine. You're me after all and this is your time.'

'I can't let you sacrifice yourself for me. Not after you've waited so long to be with her and suffered through so much.'

The older Xena was looking at her younger self with an expression of annoyance. 'I was never meant to exist. You were. Don't you see, you get all the benefits here – life and Gabrielle.'

'But if I was fated to die in Japa…'

'Since when have you cared about fate?'

'If it's for the greater good…'

At that the older Xena laughed. 'I was so foolish back when I was you. Gabrielle is the greater good. She always was. This way you can be with her, keep her safe, help her become an Amazon Queen like she's meant to be. She's the important one, not you. Her destiny is far greater than ours. But one of us has to die to save those people in purgatory and that's going to be me. I'm offering you a way out.'

'But you know her destiny, not me. You'd be better equipped to help her fulfil it.'

'There's no time for this. Those soldiers are on their way through these woods. One of us has to be there for them to kill and that has to be me.'

'I won't let you,' the younger Xena said. 'We'll go together.'

'No, no, no!' the older Xena was shouting now. In a blur of motion and with fighting skills honed over an extra two thousand years, she struck out at her younger self, knocking her unconscious to the ground. 'Don't let her come after me!' she yelled over her shoulder at Erin and then she was gone, lost amongst the trees.

The younger Xena stayed still for only a couple of seconds. Then her eyes fluttered open.

'She's gone,' Erin said in response to her unspoken question.

'I can't let her so this,' Xena said struggling to her feet. 'Not after everything that she's been through. She avoided this destiny. I didn't. It should be me, not her.'

And with that, she began to follow her older self into the woods. Erin knew she should stop her, but also knew if wasn't her place. This was something the two Xenas had to work out


	23. Chapter 23

BY the time Erin caught up with them, there was only one Xena in sight. Clad in golden armour in the midst of battle with arrow after arrow piercing the skin of her neck, of her stomach, blood spurting from open wounds like water. She was making a show of fighting off the arrows, but Erin knew it was only a show. Xena was fast enough to dodge a thousand arrows, catch them and pluck them out of mid-air, and yet, she wasn't. She was just standing there and letting them rip her flesh as though she was a piece of meat to be skewered. And she was screaming, Gabrielle's name was tumbling again and again from her lips.

From her vantage point half a mile away, Erin stared in horror, tears running freely down her face. Then she broke into a run, wanting to do something, anything to help, but her running wasn't fast enough. Xena fell, crumpling to the ground in a pool of sticky scarlet. Triumphantly, one of the soldiers surrounding her raised his sword and sliced off her head. And that was when Erin threw up.

She didn't know which Xena it was and she didn't much care. All she knew was that she had witnessed a great evil. Both Xenas has said it was for the greater good, but Erin couldn't help but think that a greater good which cost Xena her life wasn't really worth fighting for.

Worse was to come. The soldiers dispersed, carrying Xena's head like a hideous parody of a trophy. Behind them, stumbling through the undergrowth, came Gabrielle. Her cry of grief was by far the worst thing to have happened in that place. And then she fell, sobbing, beside the body of her soulmate.

Erin felt a hand on her shoulder then. 'Come away now,' a quiet voice said.

She looked up and found Xena looking down at her, flesh and blood, and not a crumpled thing on the ground at all. 'Which one are you?' She whispered in a voice choked with tears.

There were tears on Xena's face too. 'I'm your Xena,' she said. 'I'm the old one, the one from Pawnee.'

'But you…?'

'The other one, she caught me by surprise, knocked me out, took the armour. It shouldn't have happened this way, but it did. She's gone and I'm left.'

Erin couldn't help herself, she felt a wave of gladness which she was immediately ashamed of rushing through her, and she stood, throwing her arms up and around Xena's neck. 'I'm sorry, I'm sorry,' she sobbed, not really knowing what she was apologizing for.

Xena had stiffened for a moment in her embrace, then her arms came up and around the sobbing girl, holding her close and stroking her back. 'It's ok, sweetheart. You shouldn't have had to see that.'

Erin pulled away slightly and looked at Xena. 'Why don't you go to Gabrielle? Tell her everything.'

Xena shook her head. 'Not yet. She has to grieve for her Xena. And, more than that, the other Xena needs to free the souls trapped in purgatory. Events in Japa need to play out exactly as they did before. And then I'll tell Gabrielle.'

There was silence for a moment as the two of them looked down at the scene on the forest floor below them. Gabrielle was still kneeling beside the body of that other Xena, a horrible, animalistic moaning sound coming from deep inside her. She looked broken. Then, as they watched, she seemed to gather herself together with an almost physical effort. She stood, sais in hand, an expression of cold fury on her face. For the first time, Erin saw that she truly was an Amazon queen, a creature to be feared.

'That's my girl,' Xena said from beside her, something approaching a smile on her face. 'Come now,' she said, turning to Erin. 'She'll be coming back this way and we can't let her see us.'

'Where are we going?' Erin asked.

Xena looked up at the mountain, rising high above their heads. 'To the top,' she said. 'We'll wait for them there.'

And they saw the whole thing; Xena's ghost fighting for the thousands of souls in purgatory, Gabrielle reviving her with a kiss and then the ghost fading away as she stopped Gabrielle from pouring her ashes into the volcano to save her. And, after that, they saw Gabrielle crumple to the ground, a weeping huddled shape at the top of the fiery mountain.

That was when Erin's Xena broke. She had been intending to wait for a little while, allow Gabrielle some time to recover, but she couldn't watch her soulmate in that much pain. With tears streaming down her own face, she turned to Erin.

'Will you go to her?' She said. 'Will you go to her and tell her everything?'

'Shouldn't you…?'

Xena shook her head. 'Not now. Seeing me would be too much of a shock for her. It needs to be you first. Can you do that?'

Erin nodded and stood up, coming out from behind the rocky outcrop where they'd been hiding. Slowly, she approached the kneeling and broken figure on the ground. Grief-stricken as she was, Gabrielle's reflexes were still sharp and her head snapped up at Erin's approach. For a moment, confusion clouded her features and then recognition dawned and she was on her feet.

'What are you doing here?' she asked, half in a fighting stance, hands drifting towards her sais and Xena's chakram, newly attached to her belt.

'Please can I talk to you?'

Gabrielle's hands had found the chakram now and were holding it in a half defensive position. 'Why did you follow me?'

'Xena sent me.'

At Xena's name, a sob seemed to choke Gabrielle. 'Xena's gone.' She said, raw sadness in her voice.

'There's another Xena…' Erin began.

Something like hope found its way into Gabrielle's eyes. 'What do you mean?'

Erin took a deep breath and told her everything. When she'd finished, Gabrielle was glancing wildly around her. 'Where is she then? This other Xena.'

At that, Xena stepped out from behind the rock. For a moment she and Gabrielle just stared at one another. Then Gabrielle took a shaking step forwards before stopping again, uncertain. 'You came to me,' she said. 'You came to me in the night near the Amazon village and you travelled here with me.'

'I'm sorry I had to deceive you.'

'That doesn't matter.'

'Gabrielle…'

Gabrielle came forwards again, one shaking hand reaching up to trace the contours of Xena's face. 'you're not her,' she said at last. 'She died. I watched her die. You can't take her place.'

'I know,' Xena said. 'I'm not her, but I am your soulmate. I would never try and take her place, but maybe you'd let me find a place of my own?'

For a moment, Gabrielle hesitated. Then she took Xena's face in her hands and kissed her deeply, just once. 'I love you,' she said. 'Always have, always will. I have to grieve for her, but I love you. And underneath the grief I'm feeling now, there's a part of me which knows only happiness because you're here.'

Xena's face was stretching into a broad grin. 'I love you too. And I want to love you and be with you in every way.'

'I want that too.' And with that, their lips came together again. All of a sudden, there was a bright flash of light and Aphrodite was standing beside them. She looked different to how she had looked when Erin had last seen her; this was Aphrodite at the height of her power, young and strong and beautiful.

'Welcome home, warrior babe,' she said and pulled Xena into a hug. 'The love goddess is back.' Then she turned to Erin and drew her into a hug too 'You did well, little queen.' She stepped back then and faced them all. 'You know, I've always wanted to make like a Greek tragedy and do the epilogue.'

'Aphrodite, what on earth are you talking about?' Xena said, trying and failing to sound annoyed.

'Well, I'm a god. In the theatre, the god always gets to turn up and solve everyone's problems at the end. There's even a word for it.'

'Deus ex machina,' Erin supplied.

'That's right, poochie. I'm going to deus that machina. And we'll start with you, tiny Amazon. What would you like for your life? Your world doesn't exist anymore I'm afraid, now that Gabby's back in the picture. Pawnee's a pretty nice place now. I could send you back there. Or I could send you anywhere you'd like. If you think you could live without wifi and Pokemon, you could even stay here. I had a chat with the three sisters and your fate's wide open. You can choose for yourself. They were very grateful for that whole saving the world business.'

Erin's head was spinning. She'd been so focused on saving the world that she hadn't stopped to consider the fact that saving the world would destroy her home. She wasn't sure she liked the idea of returning to a Pawnee she didn't know in a world which wasn't hers. Truthfully, the only place she wanted to go back to was the Amazon village. It was the only place she'd felt truly at home. She took a deep breath. 'I'd like to stay here,' she said. 'I'd like to live with the Amazons.'

'Then you shall. I'll take you there myself and I'll make you a Princess. We'll find you a family to live with in the village.'

'Thank you,' Erin said, a wide grin spreading across her face.

'As for you two,' Aphrodite said, turning to Xena and Gabrielle. 'The warrior babe here is immortal anyway. No one can take that away from her, so I've pulled a few strings and you are too now, Gabby. The two of you truly are bound together for eternity.' Aphrodite slung an arm around Erin's shoulders and began to steer her away from the other two. 'Now go,' she said to Xena and Gabrielle. 'Enjoy forever.'

 _For decades after that, Queen Erin, one of the greatest queens the Amazon Nation had known, would entertain the great warrior princess and her soulmate whenever they passed through Amazon Country. Abigail married and had children of her own, but her children chose to forgo the crown and find their own destinies and so, in the fullness of time, the Amazon crown came to Gabrielle._

 _She ruled the Amazons well for many years with her warrior consort beside her, and, when she and Xena wanted to see the world once again, they ensured that the Amazons had a good and fair ruler and the sisterhood of the Amazon Nation grew in strength and power, in joy and prosperity._

 _As for Xena and Gabrielle, they wore many names over the centuries, lived many different ways, but always they fought for good, protected those who were unable to protect themselves, always they were the heroes of their age. And always, they loved each other._


End file.
